Morgan v. Gonzalez
Morgan v. Gonzalez
Opinion of the Court
This is a child adoption case. Willie Morgan and wife, Santos B. Morgan, instituted suit in the District Court of Jim Wells County, seeking to adopt a four-year-old girl by the name of Margarita Gonzalez, without the consent of the child’s natural parents, Guadalupe Gonzalez and Gloria Morgan Gonzalez. The trial was to the court without the intervention of a jury and resulted in plaintiffs being denied the right to adopt the child, and the care, custody and control of Margarita Gonzalez were awarded to her natural parents, from which judgment Willie Morgan and wife, Santos B. Morgan have prosecuted this appeal.
No findings of fact or conclusions of law were filed by the trial court and none were requested. Under such circumstances we must indulge the presumption that the trial court resolved all fact issues, based on conflicting evidence, in favor of appellees. Duncan v. Willis, 157 Tex. 316, 302 S.W.
Appellants base their cause of action upon the following provisions of Article 46a, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.Stats.:
“Sec. 6. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, no adoption shall be permitted except with the written consent of the living parents of the child; provided, however, that if a living parent or parents shall voluntarily abandon and desert a child sought to be adopted, for a period of two (2) years, and shall have left such child to the care, custody, control and management of other persons, or if such parent or parents shall have not contributed substantially to the support of such child during such period of two (2) years commensurate with his financial ability, then, in either event, it shall not be necessary to obtain the written consent of the living parent or parents in such default, and in such cases adoption shall be permitted on the written consent of the Judge of the Juvenile Court of the county of such child’s residence; or if there be no Juvenile Court, then on the written consent of the Judge of the County Court of the county of such child’s residence.”
It is apparent from a reading of this Article that appellants are not entitled to adopt this child without the consent of its parents, unless they have voluntarily abandoned and deserted the child for more than two years. The evidence falls far short of showing that appellees herein voluntarily abandoned and deserted their child for a period of more than two years. The mere fact that it was left with its grandparents, with a promise to send money for its support, which promise was not kept, does not show that the parents had abandoned and deserted their child. Hull v. Hull, Tex.Civ.App., 332 S.W.2d 758; Willson v. Jones, Tex.Civ.App., 304 S.W.2d 573; Harris v. Tucker, Tex.Civ.App., 245 S.W.2d 992; Platt v. Moore, Tex.Civ.App., 183 S.W.2d 682.
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.