Archive

• Staycation All I Ever Wanted: Why Parent Attorneys Should Consider Requesting Stays of TPR Orders

  This entry was contributed by Timothy Heinle on September 15, 2021 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

   

  I apologize for getting that song stuck in your head. Unless you like that song, in which case enjoy.

  Scenario: You represent a respondent parent in an abuse, neglect, or dependency (A/N/D) proceeding. The permanent plan is adoption, and DSS (or your jurisdiction’s equivalent agency) filed a petition for termination of parental rights (TPR). The trial court granted the TPR. Your client intends to appeal once the written order is entered. (Note that effective July 1, 2021, appeals of TPR orders are heard by the Court of Appeals pursuant to the newly amended G.S. 7B-1001(a)(7); see S.L. 2021-18).

  A trial court can enforce a TPR order while an appeal is pending unless a stay has been entered. G.S. 7B-1003(a); G.S. 1A-1, Rule 62(d). As the trial attorney, you and your client should consider seeking a stay of the TPR order pending the appeal.

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• The SCRA and Juvenile Proceedings

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on April 29, 2015 at 4:52 am and is filed under Child Welfare Law.

  *Note this post has been amended to reflect the December 2015 recodification of the SCRA

  Earlier posts address the SCRA in family law actions and non-judicial foreclosures. It’s my turn to address the SCRA’s application to abuse, neglect, dependency (A/N/D), and termination of parental rights (TPR) actions.

  When and Why Does the SCRA Apply?

  The SCRA applies to any judicial or administrative proceeding, except for criminal proceedings. 50 U.S.C. § 3912(b). There is no exception for A/N/D or TPR actions, which are “child custody’ proceedings. G.S. 50A-102(4). Child custody proceedings are specifically referenced in the SCRA. 50 U.S.C. § 3931(a) and -3932(a). Continue Reading

• Abuse, Neglect, Dependency Actions Automatically Stay Custody Claims in Civil Actions

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on March 27, 2015 at 5:00 am and is filed under Adoptions, Child Welfare Law, Family Law.

  The district court has exclusive, original jurisdiction over all abuse, neglect, and dependency (A/N/D) proceedings. When a court obtains that jurisdiction after an A/N/D petition has been filed by a county department of social services (DSS), “any other civil action in this State in which the custody of the juvenile is an issue is automatically stayed as to that issue, unless the juvenile proceeding and the civil custody action or claim are consolidated … or the court in the juvenile proceeding enters an order dissolving the stay.” G.S. 7B-200(c)(1).

  What does this mean? Continue Reading