Category : Wrongful Adoption
Tiger Woods’ woes associated to his highly publicized sexual improprieties are not over. In what is already an embarrassing public scandal, the wounds will continue to have salt poured into them as a porn actress wants the fallen king of the golf links to take a paternity test.
Devon James, 29, claims that Woods is the father of her nine-year-old son Austin T, that he has refuses to acknowledge this, and that he owes thousands in unpaid child support. James has asked a Manatee County, Florida judge to determine the paternity of her son.
James has some unlikely opposition in her paternity fight: her own mother. Melinda Brinling-Caso, who currently has custody of the boy, says that there is “absolutely no way” that Tiger Woods is the father.
Brinling-Caso claims that a DNA test was performed in 2002 which allegedly showed another man was Austin’s father.
James’s legal action has been filed under her legal name of Melinda Jannette
This isn’t the first instance that a mistress of Tiger Woods has claimed to have been pregnant with his child. Joslyn James, 32, claims that she was impregnated twice by Woods, the first being a miscarriage, and the second which was aborted.
There is even a report, according to former Men’s Fitness editor Neal Boulton, that a story is being repressed of a woman giving birth to a child of Tiger Woods. According to the Daily Mail in the UK, he did not divulge any further information regarding a possible payment or who the alleged mother is.
Here are side-by-side photos of the child and a picture of Tiger as a kid.
Despite the blurry picture, do you think the two look alike?
In most areas of the United States, an adoption lawyer practicing in your state can take on a wrongful adoption case if certain legal criteria are met. If nondisclosure of information by the adoption agency affected your choice in adopting a child who later developed or was diagnosed with serious medical/psychological conditions, you might have grounds for a wrongful adoption lawsuit.
Exceptions to wrongful adoption claims include:
- If the agency had no means to access the information in question
- If you signed a hold-harmless agreement among your adoption papers
- If you filed a claim after the statute of limitations has expired
These exceptions, as well as any opportunity to seek damages from a negligent adoption agency, all depends on the particular laws of your state. A wrongful adoption attorney can help you determine whether your case can be won.
Today’s skyrocketing health care bills make wrongful adoption lawsuits worth more than simple justice to adoptive parents. The need for damage recovery is especially noticeable in cases where an adopted child was later diagnosed with complications from fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
Excessive alcohol consumption by birth mothers can result in a child experiencing:
- Learning disabilities
- Poor eyesight or hearing
- Neurological problems
- Physical deformities
Adoptive parents who notice signs of FAS in their child but received no notice of the condition from the adoption agency can sue for medical expenses, lost wages and punitive damages, in some states. An adoption attorney in your area can give you details.
The defense attorneys in wrongful adoption lawsuits have many ways of trying to steer clear of large damage judgments against their clients. They may focus on statutes of limitations, parental responsibility or adoption clauses that preclude lawsuits. Sometimes they point to the law that allows relinquishment as a solution to the wrongful adoption dispute.
Relinquishment entails the adoptive parents returning the adopted child to the agency and severing legal familial ties. It sounds like a simple legal solution, doesn’t it? In reality, most families find the option too difficult to comprehend after forming a bond with their adopted child. However, some states offer the remedy in the event a parent-child bond has not been formed. Adoptive parents’ rights allow for another alternative, economic compensation when families choose to remain intact.
Browse our library for more information about wrongful adoption.
In states that recognize tort law regarding wrongful adoption, the concept of recovery is based on who is damaged and who is liable. The theory is that when an adopted child develops medical problems related to information that the adoption agency did not tell the applicants, the parties suffer. The entity that broke the law requiring full disclosure of medical and other pertinent history to prospective adopting parents is to blame.
Damages may be recovered by:
- The adopted child
- Any siblings
- The adoptive parents
Responsibility for court-ordered payments for suffering and lifetime medical costs is the responsibility of the facilitating agency. However, most adoption agencies carry sufficient liability insurance to cover the judgment.
Find out more information from wrongful adoption lawyers.
Parents must decide which child to adopt based on facts presented by adoption agencies. If the adoption agency’s facts are not true and complete, adoptive parents cannot make informed decisions. The balance of risk and power between adoption agencies and applicants is uneven, and so the law settles wrongful adoption disputes in court.
Most states uphold these rights to children’s social and medical histories in order to benefit all adoption parties. Parents can confidently choose to invest their financial and emotional resources in a child. Children form healthy mental attitudes and make life decisions based on such knowledge. Successful adoptions cost the state far less than wrongful adoptions.
For more information on wrongful adoption lawsuits, visit our library.
To avoid wrongful adoption lawsuits, prospective adoptive parents can detect possible disclosure issues by adoption agency staff before finalizing their choices. Making sure that you have as much accurate information about a child’s medical, emotional and social backgrounds can help you avoid family suffering and legal battles.
Ask questions and follow up on an agency’s information collection methods. Learn whether both birth parents were interviewed first hand, and ask about their family histories of mental illness or hereditary diseases, such as diabetes or cancer. An adoption attorney can help you rule out adoption agency error in information about your child.
Why is adoption agency liability in wrongful adoption cases such a serious issue? Adoption professionals must gather background information about children from disparate sources, many of which are questionable. The law holds parents’ rights to the available facts sacred because adoption applicants must rely on the diligence of agency staff, for they are not allowed to contact birth parents themselves.
Medical and educational records cannot be released directly to parents. In international adoptions, the parents may face language barriers in interpreting records. Because of these handicaps, most states require adoption agencies to act in good faith in disclosing all pertinent information on a child and will prosecute them if they fail in that duty.
A couple from Boynton Beach, will receive $9.5 million dollars in compensation from the state of Florida 11 years after adopting three sexually traumatized boys without being given any information about their abusive past.
The couple had specifically informed Florida’s Department of Children and Families that they did not want to adopt children who had been sexually abused.
DCF not only withheld information detailing the boys sexual abuse, which included rape, as well as being caged and starved while in foster care, but gave instructions to the boys treatment center not to release their records to the new parents.
As a result, the boys molested other children, killed the family’s pets, set fires, were expelled from school, attempted suicide, and even tried to poison their adoptive mother.
The adoption rights lawsuit has inspired Florida lawmakers to approve a bill that would allow adoptive parents to view the records of any children they are considering taking into their care.
According to the family, the compensation received from the wrongful adoption lawsuit will help pay for the children’s education, and continuing therapy and other treatments.
If your family has fallen victim to a wrongful adoption, you will want to consult a family law attorney right away for guidance. A family lawyer can advise you of your rights and get you the compensation you deserve for your suffering.
Visit the Family Law section of our library to learn more about Wrongful Adoptions.
