D.P.H. v. J.L.B.

The juvenile court found that Respondent J.L.B. ("Father") had abandoned A.B. (the "Child") and that therefore the Child was available for adoption by Petitioner D.P.H. ("Stepfather"). The juvenile court also determined that the fact that Father had filed parenting-time motions in the dissolution court did not outweigh overwhelming evidence of abandonment, including the fact that Father had not seen the Child in the twenty-one months prior to the filing of the adoption proceeding.

Father appealed to the court of appeals, which reversed. The court determined that a finding of abandonment was…