In the December 16, 2011 opinion in SCDSS v. Mother and Father, the Court of Appeals reversed a family court permanency planning order requiring the Department of Social Services (DSS) to bring a termination of parental rights (TPR) action against Mother and instead ordered the matter remanded for a reunification plan. This case started when [...]
Archive for the ‘Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect’ Category
Court of Appeals reverses permanency plan of termination of parental rights where Mother remedied conditions that led to removal
Posted Friday, December 23rd, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
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Tags: Child Abuse and Neglect, Department of Social Services, South Carolina Court of Appeals, Termination of Parental Rights
Posted in Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific | No Comments »
One hundred things I don’t know about South Carolina family law
Posted Monday, November 14th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Attorney's Fees, Child Custody, Child Support, Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Divorce and Marriage, Equitable Division/Property Division, Family Court Procedure, Jurisprudence, Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, Paternity, South Carolina Specific
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This blog is inspired by myriad important family law issues that current South Carolina case law and statute don’t adequately answer. None of these questions is merely academic, as each has come up at least once in my eighteen years of family law practice. I have firm opinions on the correct answer to some of [...]
Posted in Alimony/Spousal Support, Attorney's Fees, Child Custody, Child Support, Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Divorce and Marriage, Equitable Division/Property Division, Family Court Procedure, Jurisprudence, Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, Paternity, South Carolina Specific | 7 Comments »
A cuckoo approach to progeny
Posted Friday, November 11th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Law and Culture, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to General Public
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From a purely pragmatic viewpoint a “successful” life for a sexually reproducing creature is merely having more than two offspring survive to reproductive age. From this same vantage an “unsuccessful” life is simply having one or fewer offspring survive to reproductive age. Consider the many species of cuckoo birds who are “brood parasites,” laying their [...]
Tags: Parenting, Popular Culture
Posted in Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Law and Culture, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to General Public | 4 Comments »
Supreme Court reverses termination of parental rights where father not responsible for numerous court delays
Posted Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
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The October 3, 2011 Supreme Court opinion in Charleston County DSS v. Marccuci reverses a family court order terminating Sean Taylor’s (Father’s) parental rights. The reversal is based, in a large part, upon a convoluted procedural history that mitigated the grounds upon which the lower court based the termination of parental rights (TPR). The procedural [...]
Tags: Jason Scott Luck, South Carolina Supreme Court, Termination of Parental Rights
Posted in Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific | No Comments »
Who buggered my dog?
Posted Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Appellate Decisions
3 Comments »
In the September 21, 2011 Court of Appeals opinion of South Carolina Department of Social Services v. Mary C., a child’s therapist opined that a three-year old’s masturbating and defying her potty training by urinating on the floor were signs of “sexualized behaviors” indicative of sexual abuse. This leads me to ponder: who buggered my dog? [...]
Tags: Benjamin Stevens, Child Abuse and Neglect, Department of Social Services, South Carolina Court of Appeals
Posted in Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Appellate Decisions | 3 Comments »
Supreme Court grants termination of parental rights, finding mother’s failure to support was “willful”
Posted Monday, July 18th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
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In SCDSS v. M. R. C. L., 393 S.C. 387, 712 S.E.2d 452 (2011), it took the South Carolina Supreme Court less than a year to reverse the Court of Appeals’ opinion, 390 S.C. 329, 701 S.E.2d 757 (Ct. App. 2010), which itself reversed a family court grant of termination of parental right against a mother whom the [...]
Tags: Department of Social Services, South Carolina Supreme Court, Termination of Parental Rights
Posted in Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific | No Comments »
Can inability to remedy a child’s morbid obesity be considered child abuse or neglect?
Posted Sunday, June 26th, 2011 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Jurisprudence, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public
5 Comments »
Until recently I had been representing the family of a child whose morbid obesity led to repeated Department of Social Services interventions. His medical doctors could find no organic reason for the child’s morbid obesity and warned he was at high risk of early death or serious health problems unless he lost weight and kept [...]
Tags: Child Abuse and Neglect, Jurisprudence, Obesity
Posted in Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Jurisprudence, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public | 5 Comments »
Monthly visits and small gifts sufficient to prevent termination of parental rights says Court of Appeals
Posted Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
1 Comment »
Note: this decision was later reversed by the South Carolina Supreme Court. See, Supreme Court grants termination of parental rights, finding mother’s failure to support was “willful” Today’s 2-1 decision in SC Department of Social Services v. M. R. C. L., 390 S.C. 329, 701 S.E.2d 757 (Ct. App. 2010), reversed a family court ruling terminating [...]
Tags: Department of Social Services, South Carolina Court of Appeals, Termination of Parental Rights
Posted in Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific | 1 Comment »