Summary 2012 WY 132

Summary of Decision October 12, 2012

Justice Burke delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF AMP, a minor child. DLH v. JLA and JJA

Docket Number: S-12-0093

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Goshen County, Honorable Keith G. Kautz, Judge.

Representing Appellant: John R. Hursh, Central Wyoming Law Associates, P.C., Laramie, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: James A. Eddington, Jones & Eddington Law Offices, Torrington, Wyoming.

Date of Decision: October 12, 2012

Facts: Appellant, DLH, challenged the district court’s order granting the adoption of his four-year-old son, AMP, without Appellant’s consent.
Issues: The parties raise the following issue:

Whether the district court abused its discretion in granting JJA’s adoption of AMP without Appellant’s consent pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-22-110(a)(iv), due to Appellant’s willful failure to pay child support for a period of one year prior to the filing of the adoption petition, and his failure to bring his child support obligation current within 60 days after service of the petition.

Holdings: The district court’s conclusion that Appellant willfully failed to contribute to the support of his child is supported by the evidence. The evidence also supports the district court’s conclusion that Appellant failed to bring his child support obligation current within 60 days. Because it is undisputed that Appellant did not pay his accumulated arrearages, the Court cannot find that the district court abused its discretion in determining that this element of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-22-110(a)(iv) was satisfied. Affirmed.

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court

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