Jeffrey L. Black v. Cindy M. Gray

MOORE, Justice Jeffrey L. Black 1 appeals a ruling of the Family Court terminating his parental rights in his seven year
old daughter, Tiffany. For the first time we consider the scope of the grounds for termination of such rights under 13 Del.C.
§ 1103 (1981), where a parent has abandoned a child in the past, but thereafter, and before the filing of a termination
petition, attempts in good faith to exercise his parental responsibilities. In the face of a pending petition by the father
for visitation rights with Tiffany, the mother, Cindy M. Gray, petitioned to terminate the father's rights on the grounds
of an earlier abandonment. However, at that time the circumstances of the prior abandonment no longer existed. The Family
Court concluded (1) that the father had abandoned his daughter and (2) that it was in Tiffany's best interest to terminate
her father's parental rights. In our opinion the Family Court erred in its interpretation of the law and application of the
facts thereto. Under 13 Del.C. § 1103 (1981) an abandonment is not an irrevocable act. Accordingly, we reverse. I.