D.M. v. Department of Children and Families
In consolidated appeals from a judgment terminating both parents' rights, the Third District held that Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.520(c)'s requirement of 'findings of fact specifying the act or acts causing the termination of parental rights' does not apply when termination rests on a parent's statutory voluntary surrender under section 39.806(1)(a). The court affirmed the terminations and rejected the child's due process challenge to the trial court's acceptance of the mother's surrender over his objection and without a separate evidentiary hearing. It certified conflict with the Fifth District's decision in C.B. v. B.C., 851 So. 2d 847 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003).
Key facts
- Mother and father appealed from a judgment terminating their parental rights to a child in a dependency case.
- The trial court accepted the mother's written voluntary surrender of parental rights under Florida Statute section 39.806(1)(a) without conducting a separate evidentiary hearing, over the child's objection.
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Why it matters
This opinion resolves, for the Third District, whether trial courts must make act-specific factual findings in voluntary-surrender TPR judgments and certifies conflict with the Fifth District, teeing up Florida Supreme… — full analysis with a trial
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