(a) Consent to the petitioner’s adoption or relinquishment for adoption to the Department of Human Resources or a licensed child placing agency shall be required by all of the following:
Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(1) The adoptee, if 14 years of age or older, except when the court finds that the adoptee does not have the mental capacity to give consent.(2) The adoptee’s legal mother or mothers.(3) The adoptee’s legal father or fathers.(4) If the adoptee has no legal father, the putative father if made known by the mother or is otherwise made known to the court, provided he complies with Section 26-10C-1 and responds within 30 days to the notice received under Section 26-10E-17(a).(5) Any legal custodian or legal guardian of the adoptee if both parents are dead or presumed dead, if the rights of the parents have been terminated by judicial proceedings, or if the consent of both parents is otherwise not required pursuant to Section 26-10E-10, and if any legal custodian or legal guardian has authority by order of the court to consent to the adoption except that the court may grant the adoption without the consent of that legal custodian or legal guardian if the court determines that such consent was unreasonably withheld.(6) The Department of Human Resources, if the minor has been relinquished to it for the purposes of adoption or it otherwise holds temporary or permanent custody of the minor, except that the court may grant the adoption without the consent of the department if the adoption is in the best interests of the adoptee and there is a finding by the court the department has unreasonably withheld its consent.(7) The licensed child placing agency to which the child has been relinquished for adoption, except that the court may grant the adoption without the consent of the agency if the adoption is in the best interests of the adoptee and there is a finding by the court the agency has unreasonably withheld its consent.(b) The Director of the Department of Human Resources or the designee of the director and the executive head of a licensed child placing agency may appoint an employee of the department or agency to give or to deny consent for adoption of adoptee.(c) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a court having jurisdiction over a case under this chapter shall have the power to determine the biological or legal parentage of a minor to ascertain whose consent shall be required or to adjudicate any other claim or issue in the case.
