Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2008

M.M. v. Department of Children & Family Services

M.M. v. Department of Children & Family Services
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided August 15, 2008 · Benton, Hawkes, Nortwick
987 So. 2d 1267; 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 13422; 2008 WL 3540242 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

M.M. v. Department of Children & Family Services

Opinion of the Court

BENTON, J.

“[T]he availability of a nonadoptive placement with a relative may not ... be considered as a factor weighing against termination of parental rights.” § 39.810(1), Fla. Stat. (2006). Since the child’s mother’s parental rights were terminated earlier, the “child will not be reunited with a parent, [and] adoption, under chapter 63, is the primary permanency option.” § 39.621(6), Fla. Stat. (2006). As the Department of Children and Family Services acknowledges, “the trial court here has not precluded the paternal great grandmother from being among that number seeking to adopt L.K.”

AFFIRMED.

VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ., concur.

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