B.L. v. J.S.
Kentucky Court of Appeals
434 S.W.3d 61 (2014)
Facts
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services removed half-siblings B.L. and R.J.P. from their biological mother’s care after R.J.P. tested positive for drug addiction at birth. Their mother stipulated to neglect, and the department placed the children with B.L.’s step-great-aunt and step-great-uncle, J.S. and J.S. (plaintiffs), who petitioned to adopt the children. B.L.’s biological father, B.T.L (defendant), who was incarcerated throughout the neglect proceedings and for at least three of the five years of B.L.’s life, objected and moved to dismiss the adoption petition. The court granted the adoption under a state statute that allows relatives to adopt a child without the child first being officially placed for adoption beforehand. B.T.L. appealed on several grounds, including the ground that step-relatives did not qualify as relatives under the statute.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Jones, J.)
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