C.B., MOTHER OF N.F., A.F., AND E.F., CHILDREN, APPELLANT,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed termination of parental rights as to all five children despite trial court's erroneous reliance on an unpled statutory ground for one child, because other adequate grounds for termination were established.
Termination of parental rights may be affirmed despite inclusion of an unpled statutory ground when other adequate grounds supporting termination are properly established.
[1] Termination of parental rights based on an unpled statutory ground does not require reversal when other adequate statutory grounds for termination are properly establishe…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceC.B., the mother of five children, had her parental rights terminated by the trial court. The court relied on multiple out-of-home care placements und…
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C.B., the mother, appeals the orders terminating her parental rights to her five children. We affirm in all respects, save one. As the Department of Children and Families (DCF) concedes, the trial court *749erred by terminating the mother’s parental rights as to N.F. based on multiple out-of-home care placements, as set forth in section 39.806(1)(£), Florida Statutes (2008). This ground was not pled as a basis for termination in the petition and DCF failed to seek amendment of the petition to include this statutory ground as to N.F. See R.S. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 872 So.2d 412, 413 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Despite this error, the court properly terminated the mother’s parental rights as to all five children as other grounds supporting termination were adequately established. See J.C. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 959 So.2d 431 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (holding that despite error in termination order, which incorrectly included abandonment as basis for termination, termination order would still stand where DCF established two other grounds supporting termination).
On remand, the trial court shall strike this finding. In all other respects, the termination orders are affirmed.
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.
MONACO, C.J., ORFINGER and JACOBUS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- R.S. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 872 So. 2d 412 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- J.C. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 959 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)