Koivu v. Irwin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1, 2) Abandonment, as it pertains to an adoption proceeding, is defined in this state as any conduct on the part of the parent which evinces a settled purpose to forego all parental duties and relinquish all parental claims to the child. Ex parte Wolfenden, 49 Tenn.App. 1 , 349 S.W.2d 713 (1959). Evidence of an abandonment must be clear and convincing. The evidence must clearly show a conscious disregard or indifference to the parental obligations for a court to forfeit the parental rights and obligations. Fancher v. Mann, 58 Tenn.App. 471 , 432 S.W.2d 63 (1968). To determine an abandonment the court is not to look at the protesta tions of affections and intentions expressed by the natural parents, but look at the past course of conduct. Id. Nonexclusive factors that prior case law reveals include, as to those situations where the child is removed from the parent, the amount of support given to the child, the degree of contacts and visits with the child and whether gifts were sent on special days. Also, there are considerations of whether the child was voluntarily removed to another person and whether such a removal was acquiesced in. The length of time the child is away from the natural parent during the period at issue is also a factor. Also, the condition of the home environment and the conduct of a parent toward the child prior to or in lieu of any actual removal of the child to another is a factor in the determination of an abandonment. (3) The ultimate question in an a”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Zartman v. Self · Wilson v. Parsons