Archive

• The Rights of the Parent Who Does Not Execute a Relinquishment

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on December 8, 2022 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Adoptions.

  This blog post builds on my last post: A Guide to Relinquishments and Post-Relinquishment Review Hearings. If you remember, relinquishments involve the voluntary transfer of physical and legal custody of a minor child to an agency (a department of social services (DSS) or licensed private child-placing agency) that accepts the relinquishment for the purposes of the child’s adoption. See G.S. 48-1-101(15); 48-3-705(b). A relinquishment is executed by a parent or by a guardian of the person appointed by the clerk of superior court under a G.S. Chapter 35A proceeding.

  What happens when one parent executes a relinquishment but the other parent wants custody of their child? North Carolina statutes are silent; however, case law recognizes that the non-relinquishing parent has rights. Continue Reading

• A Guide to Relinquishments and Post-Relinquishment Review Hearings

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on July 22, 2022 at 11:35 am and is filed under Adoptions.

  In the last two years, I’ve started to receive more questions about the relinquishment of a child to a child-placing agency for adoption. The questions focus on procedure. There are specific statutory procedures that must be followed. When those procedures are not followed, the rights of everyone involved are impacted. Continue Reading