WILLIAM CANADAY, APPELLANT,
v.
LANCE GRESHAM, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court reversed an adoption judgment because the natural father received no notice of the proceedings, violating the fundamental requirement of notice in adoption cases.
A final adoption judgment is void when the natural father receives no personal or constructive service of process and has no notice of the adoption proceedings.
[1] A final adoption judgment is void ab initio when the natural father, as a party with a constitutionally protected interest in his children, receives neither personal nor…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Notice is a fundamental prerequisite to any adoption proceeding.”
Court establishing the essential requirement that due process demands notice in adoption cases.
William Canaday, the natural father of two minor children, was not notified of adoption proceedings initiated by Lance Gresham, the stepfather and hus…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant/petitioner, William Canaday, the natural father of two minor children, appeals from two orders denying his motions to vacate the final judgment of adoption rendered in favor of appel-lee/respondent, Lance Gresham, the stepfather of the children and the husband of Jane Canaday Gresham, the children’s mother and former wife of appellant.
After carefully reviewing the record, briefs and arguments of counsel, it is our opinion that the trial judge erred in denying appellant’s motions to vacate the final judgment of adoption previously entered in favor of appellee. The record affirmatively reveals that appellant had no notice of the institution of these proceedings to adopt his children. Personal service of process was never made nor attempted. In addition, even though it appears that the whereabouts of appellant could have been ascertained by appellee through appellant’s mother, who lived only one mile from appel-lee, constructive service of process was never utilized as a means of notification.
Notice is a fundamental prerequisite to any adoption proceeding. Fielding v. Highsmith, 152 Fla. 837, 13 So. 2d 208 (1943); Grissom v. Dade County, 293 So. 2d 59 (Fla.1974); In re Adoption of Shaw, 198 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967); Section 63.-122(2), Florida Statutes (1977). As appellant, the natural father of the children, never received the requisite notice, the final judgment of adoption is void.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- IDE v. City OF ST. Cloud, 152 Fla. 837 (Fla. 1943)
- Grissom v. Dade Cnty., 293 So. 2d 59 (Fla. 1974)
- In re Adoption OF Tami Mari Shaw v. Cochran, 198 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)