In re Interest of K.M.L. (Opinion)
Annotate this CaseAn intellectually disabled and mentally ill mother (Mother) gave birth to a child when Mother was a teenager. When the child was two, she fell and suffered injuries to her teeth and jaw. The next day, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) removed the child from Mother and filed a petition to terminate Mother’s parental rights. Two months after the suit was filed, DFPS served Father by publication. John received no notice of the hearings in the case, nor did he receive notice of the trial. After proceedings in the termination suit began, Mother executed an affidavit of voluntary relinquishment naming DFPS as managing conservator of the child. The first day of trial, the State served Father with a subpoena to attend the trial. Father missed the first few hours of the trial. Following the trial, the jury found that termination of Mother’s and Father’s parental rights was in the child’s best interest. The court of appeals affirmed both terminations. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that termination of both parents’ rights was improper because there was legally insufficient evidence that Mother knowingly and intelligently executed the affidavit of voluntary relinquishment and because Father did not receive notice of trial and did not waive notice.
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