In Re the Adoption of C.R.D.

J.M.S. (father) appeals the decree of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, granting the adoption of his natural daughter, C.R.D. (daughter) by respondents J.E.D. and A.C.D. (grandparents). The respondents are the maternal grandparents of the child and have been her legal guardians since 1985. In granting the petition, the District Court held that the father’s consent to the adoption was not required because he failed to pay child support and had abandoned his daughter. We affirm the District Court’s decree on the grounds that the appellant abandoned the child according…