Dept. of Human Services v. K. J. V.

Pursuant to ORS 418.270(4), “a relinquishment becomes irrevocable once a child is placed in the physical custody of people for the purpose of adoption, unless ‘fraud or duress is affirmatively proved.’”

Appellant relinquished her parental rights to J and subsequently revoked her relinquishment after claiming she was coerced into terminating her parental rights since she did not have the benefit of counsel. The juvenile court found that appellant did not prove her relinquishment was rendered out of fraud and terminated DHS’s wardship and jurisdiction over J. While the Court did not find that the appellant was without counsel when she signed the relinquishment documents, ORS 418.270(4) provides that “a relinquishment becomes irrevocable once a child is placed in the physical custody of people for the purpose of adoption, unless ‘fraud or duress is affirmatively proved.’" The documents that appellant signed mirrored this language. Rather than answering whether the appellant revoked her relinquishment before J’s adoptive placement was assigned, the juvenile court applied the wrong legal standard and based their decision on the irrevocability language in the documents. The Court found that the juvenile court expressly ruled that it based its decision on the document’s irrevocability language. The Court could not not conclude that the juvenile court rejected the appellant’s testimony that she revoked her relinquishment after signing the documents and before J’s adoptive placement was assigned. Remanded.