Madison County chancery session grants adoptions, terminates parental rights, approves estate sale and issues multiple family-law orders

A Madison County chancery court on Friday granted two adoptions, approved a default termination of parental rights in a separate case, authorized a $530,000 sale of a decedent’s home and appointed an administrator for another estate, while several family-law disputes were resolved by agreed orders and temporary parenting plans.

The judge granted an adoption for a 13-year-old identified in court as Jacob after asking the prospective parent his name and explaining the legal consequences of adoption, saying the adoption would make the adoptive parents Jacob’s legal parents "the same as if he was born to you." The court invited the family for photographs after the order was signed.

In a separate default proceeding, counsel asked the court to terminate the parental rights of a respondent named in filings as Zachary Summers after he failed to file an answer. A witness for petitioners (Gracie Monroe) testified that the respondent had not had contact with the child and had…