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Judge grants adoption of 10-year-old Sean; finds biological parents abandoned child
Summary
A Cheatham County judge found that both biological parents failed to provide support or meaningful visitation and granted Gabriel Toth's petition to adopt 10-year-old Sean. The court made statutory findings of abandonment and ordered the adoption to be entered, creating a permanent parent-child legal relationship.
A Cheatham County judge on the record granted an adoption petition that will make Gabriel Toth the legal parent of 10-year-old Sean, finding the change is in the child's paramount best interest.
The judge made explicit factual findings on the record, stating both biological parents had failed to provide support and had engaged only in "token" visitation during the statutory period prior to the filing of the adoption petition, and that those facts satisfied the statutory definition of abandonment. The court said the adoption will have the same legal consequences as if Sean were the adoptive parent's biological child, including inheritance and parental obligations.
Gabriel Toth testified that he has had custody since May 2019 and that Sean has lived continuously in his home since that time. The court also spoke directly with Sean on the record to confirm the child's understanding of the proceeding and to ensure the child assented to the adoption in a manner the court considered appropriate for his age.
No guardian ad litem or separate social study was announced on the record in this hearing; the judge's order rests on his statutory findings and testimony presented at the adoption hearing. The adoption was entered by the court at the conclusion of the matter.
The order also directs the clerk to enter a final adoption decree and to update the child's legal records accordingly. The judge emphasized the permanence of the decision and the adoptive parent's long-term responsibilities.
Court file references: adoption petition, custody history in May 2019, and on-the-record findings of abandonment and best interest by the judge.
