In re Child of Olivia F.
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court terminating Mother's parental rights to her child, holding that the court did not err in finding abandonment and did not err or abuse its discretion in determining that termination of Mother's parental rights was in the child's best interest.
On appeal, Mother argued that the court erred as a matter of law in concluding that her failure to appear on the second day of the termination hearing constituted abandonment, in finding that she had the "intent to forego parental duties," and went beyond the scope of a termination proceeding by speculating about who would adopt the child post-termination. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the court did not err in finding that Mother had the intent to forego her parental duties and had therefore abandoned the child; and (2) the court acted with in the scope of its authority in speculating that the child would be placed with the great-grandmother.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.