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Taylor v. Taylor

Where a trial court finds that terminating parental rights is not in the best interests of the child, it should reject the parties' agreement to do so.

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Husband, Christopher Michael Taylor, appeals from the Toombs County Superior Court’s order terminating his parental rights, which was part of a final judgment of divorce. During the divorce negotiations, husband agreed to voluntarily surrender his parental rights, pursuant to OCGA § 19-7-1, in exchange for wife’s agreement to release husband from any child support obligations. After the agreement had been announced in court, but before it had been finalized or incorporated into a final judgment, husband attempted to back out of the agreement. The trial court expressed its reluctance to enforce the agreement, but did so even though it found the agreement not to be in the best interests of the child. Because the trial court erroneously concluded that it had no discretion to consider whether the parties’ agreement was in the best interests of the child, we reverse and remand to the trial court for a hearing and determination in that regard. Husband and wife were married in May 2003, and the couple’s daughter was born in November 2003. In January 2004, wife moved back to her parents’ home, and husband initiated divorce proceedings. Prior to the first hearing, wife’s parents offered to assume all support obligations for the child in exchange for husband’s agreement to voluntarily surrender his parental rights. Husband agreed, and the agreement was announced to the court at a hearing on May 13, 2004.

In spite of the existence of the agreement, the trial court ordered a paternity test for the child in September 2004. After the test showed that husband was in fact the father of the child, husband refused to sign the agreement surrendering his parental rights. In response, wife filed a motion to enforce the agreement.

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