Department of Human Services v. K.W.

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Area(s) of Law: Family Law
  • Date Filed: 09-16-2015
  • Case #: A158199
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Ortega, P.J for the Court; DeVore, J.; & Garrett, J.

Under ORS 419B.923(1), the juvenile court has discretion to set aside a default termination of parental rights judgment if it had been entered into improperly, but only under certain circumstances.

Mother moved to set aside a termination of parental rights (TPR) judgment by a juvenile court based on progress in parenting and bonding with Child since the judgment had been entered. Department of Human Services objected to Mother's motion because she had not stated a proper issue under ORS 419B.923(1) for relief. The Court noted that the examples provided in ORS 419B.923(1) were nonexclusive, but were set to limit the court's authority. The Court noted that "changed circumstances" was not listed and would have been more explicitly if the legislature would have intended to include it. The Court held that ORS 419B.923 did not grant the juvenile court discretion to set aside the judgment under the circumstances alleged by the mother in this case. Affirmed.

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