In re Adoption of J.R.I.

Citations

• 2023 Ohio 475

Syllabus

The trial court ruled that a domestic violence civil protection order prohibiting appellant-father from having contact with his child did not provide justifiable cause for appellant's failure to have contact with the child in the one-year period before appellee-petitioner filed a petition seeking to adopt the child. Based upon this conclusion, the court found that appellant's consent to the adoption was not required. While acknowledging that the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in In re Adoption of A.K., 168 Ohio St.3d 225, 2022-Ohio-350, 198 N.E.3d 47, applies to the case at hand, this Court does not adopt the lead opinion of the plurality decision. Rather, we continue to apply the two-step analysis applicable to the de minimis prong of R.C. 3107.07(A), which was supported by four of the Justices in In re Adoption of A.K. Under this analysis, the trial court's decision was supported by clear and convincing evidence. Judgment affirmed.