In re Adoption of Andre F.
Father appeals from a judgment terminating his parental rights upon the petition of the minor’s stepfather. Appellant contends there is insufficient evidence he left the minor or intended to abandon him pursuant to section 7822.
The record shows that for over a one year period following a separation from his wife, appellant voluntarily left the minor with her and at best made only token efforts to see him. Appellant argues inter alia that the one-year requirement was not satisfied because during the year the minor was judicially taken from him when his wife filed a dissolution proceeding that placed the minor in her sole legal and physical custody without a visitation order and he thereafter was legally barred from seeing the minor. Court disagrees.
Appellant voluntarily failed to appear in the dissolution proceeding notwithstanding that he was given notice of the relief his wife sought and the court subsequently ordered, and he did not seek modification of the order until over two years after it was entered. Appellant cannot claim the refuge of a court order he impliedly consented to. There was no judicial taking of the minor.
Court affirms the judgment.
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