Vaidik, J.
Case Summary
A stepmother filed a petition to adopt her two stepchildren, alleging the biological mother’s consent wasn’t required because, for at least one year, she failed without justifiable cause to communicate significantly with her children when able to do so. The trial court found the biological mother was able to communicate with her children but failed to do so for nearly two-and-a-half years. However, the court found the biological mother had justifiable cause for not communicating with her children because she was recovering from drug addiction. Although the record shows the biological mother spent four months getting “clean,” there is no evidence about what she did for the rest of the time. Without this evidence and looking to the totality of the circumstances, the biological mother’s failure to communicate with her children is not justifiable. The court’s judgment is clearly erroneous. We therefore reverse and remand.
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Here, the trial court found the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision in E.B.F. and this Court’s decision in D.H. supported the conclusion Mother had justifiable cause for not communicating significantly with the children…
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We acknowledge our Supreme Court’s holding in E.B.F. that drug-addicted parents should have the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves and then reestablish a relationship with their children. And we appreciate the trial court’s careful consideration of the case law. However, E.B.F. does not stand for the proposition that drug-addicted parents have an open-ended pass for not communicating significantly with their children.
Key to the E.B.F. and D.H. cases was that both mothers “demonstrated that [they] made a good-faith effort at recovery, with significant progress within a reasonable amount of time.” E.B.F., 93 N.E.3d at 765. Here, Mother did not present such evidence. We are aware Stepmother bore the burden of proving Mother’s failure to communicate significantly with the children was not justifiable. While proving a negative is difficult, we are convinced Stepmother has met that burden. Examining the record and findings of the trial court and looking to the totality of the circumstances, we find the findings do not support the judgment. As the trial court found, Mother did not see or communicate with the children for nearly two-and-a-half years. During the first fifteen months of her absence, Mother used drugs. After Mother “g[o]t clean” and returned to Indiana, she did not contact the children in any way—by letter, phone, or otherwise—for ten months. These findings lead to one conclusion—Mother did not have justifiable cause for not communicating with the children; consequently, her consent to the adoption is unnecessary. We reverse the trial court and remand this case. On remand, the court must determine, among other things, whether adoption is in the best interests of the children. [Footnote omitted.] See Ind. Code § 31-19-11-1(a).
Reversed and remanded.
Bradford, C.J., and Brown, J., concur.