TITLE 16

JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS

CHAPTER 20

TERMINATION OF PARENT AND CHILD RELATIONSHIP

16-2007.  Notice — Waiver — Guardian ad litem. (1) After a petition has been filed, the court shall set the time and place for hearing. The petitioner shall give notice to any person entitled to notice under section 16-1505, Idaho Code, the authorized agency having legal custody of the child and the guardian ad litem of the child and of a parent. The petitioner shall give notice to the Idaho department of health and welfare if the petition for termination was not filed in conjunction with a petition for adoption or by an adoption agency licensed by the state of Idaho.

(2)  Notice shall be given by personal service on the parents or guardian. Where reasonable efforts to effect personal service have been unsuccessful or are impossible because the whereabouts of parties entitled to notice are not known or reasonably ascertainable, the court shall order service by registered or certified mail to the last known address of the person to be notified and by publication once a week for three (3) successive weeks in a newspaper or newspapers to be designated by the court as most likely to give notice to the person to be served. The hearing shall take place no sooner than ten (10) days after service of notice, or where service is by registered or certified mail and publication, the hearing shall take place no sooner than ten (10) days after the date of last publication.

(3)  Notice and appearance may be waived by a parent in writing and witnessed by a district judge or magistrate of a district court, or equivalent judicial officer of the state, where a person waiving notice and appearance resides or is present, whether within or without the county, and shall be substantially in the following form:

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE …. JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF ….

In the Matter of the termination                  )

of the parental rights to                              )

……………….                                     )

……………….                                     )

(a) minor child(ren)

I (we), the undersigned, being the…. of…., do hereby waive my (our) right to notice and my (our) right to appear in any action seeking termination of my (our) parental rights. I (we) understand that by waiving notice and appearance my (our) parental right(s), to the said…., who was born….,…., unto…., may be completely and forever terminated, including all legal rights, privileges, duties and obligations, including all rights of inheritance to and from the said…., and I (we) do hereby expressly waive my (our) right(s) to notice of or appearance in any such action.

STATE OF IDAHO      )

                            )ss.

COUNTY OF….      )

On this…. day of…., 20.., before me, the undersigned….,…. (Judge or Magistrate) of the District Court of the…. Judicial District of the state of Idaho, in and for the county of…., personally appeared…., known to me (or proved to me on the oath of….) to be the person(s) whose name(s) is (are) subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged to me that he (she, they) executed the same.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal the day and year in this certificate first above written.

(4)  The court shall accept a waiver of notice and appearance executed in another state if:

(a)  It is witnessed by a magistrate or district judge of the state where signed; or

(b)  The court receives an affidavit or a certificate from a court of comparable jurisdiction stating that the waiver of notice and appearance was executed in accordance with the laws of the state in which it was executed, or the court is satisfied by other showing that the waiver of notice and appearance was executed in accordance with the laws of the state in which it was executed.

(5)  When the termination of the parent and child relationship is sought and the parent is determined to be incompetent to participate in the proceeding, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the alleged incompetent parent. The court may in any other case appoint a guardian ad litem, as may be deemed necessary or desirable, for any party. Except as provided in section 16-1504(6), Idaho Code, where a putative father has failed to timely commence proceedings to establish paternity under section 7-1111, Idaho Code, or has failed to timely file notice of his filing of proceedings to establish his paternity of his child born out of wedlock under section 16-1513, Idaho Code, with the vital statistics unit of the department of health and welfare, notice under this section is not required unless such putative father is one of those persons specifically set forth in section 16-1505(1), Idaho Code.

(6)  If a parent fails to file a claim of parental rights pursuant to the provisions of chapter 82, title 39, Idaho Code, for a child left with a safe haven pursuant thereto, prior to entry of an order terminating their parental rights, that parent is deemed to have abandoned the child and waived and surrendered any right in relation to the child, including the right to notice of any judicial proceeding in connection with the termination of parental rights.

History:

[16-2007, added 1963, ch. 145, sec. 7, p. 420; am. 1987, ch. 207, sec. 2, p. 437; am. 1990, ch. 58, sec. 1, p. 134; am. 2000, ch. 171, sec. 10, p. 438; am. 2001, ch. 357, sec. 6, p. 1260; am. 2002, ch. 233, sec. 11, p. 682; am. 2005, ch. 25, sec. 80, p. 116; am. 2005, ch. 391, sec. 50, p. 1301; am. 2013, ch. 138, sec. 6, p. 330; am. 2020, ch. 330, sec. 5, p. 961.]