In Re Clark v. Jones

HEDRICK, Judge.

Respondent assigns error to the court’s conclusion of law that she “willfully abandoned” her child.

N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 48-2(l)a in pertinent part provides: “For the purpose of this Chapter, an ‘abandoned child’ shall be any child who has been willfully abandoned at least six consecutive months immediately preceding institution of an action or proceeding to declare the child to be an abandoned child.” “A child has been ‘willfully abandoned’ within the meaning of the statute when the conduct of the abandoning parent over the six months period reveals a settled purpose and…