Anderson v. Anderson
Anderson v. Anderson
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Matthew T. Anderson, appeals a Final Judgment of Adoption by Stepparent which found that he abandoned his biological children and which terminated his parental rights. The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in failing to determine if appellant was indigent and therefore, entitled to appointment of counsel pursuant to O.A.H. v. R.L.A., 712 So.2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Appellant requests that this court hold, as the Second District did in O.A.H., that counsel should be appointed to represent a non-consenting parent in a contested adoption proceeding when that parent is indigent and the termination of rights is involuntary.
We need not address whether we would follow the Second District’s opinion in O.A.H. or apply its rationale to this case because the facts of this case are distinguishable. In O.A.H., the biological father was indigent, requested appointed counsel, and could not attend the adoption hearing because he was incarcerated. 712 So.2d at 5. After analyzing whether a contested
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.