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Is it possible that TPR will be granted when the petition is filed rather than scheduling a court date? Birthmom has never met our FD (17 months old) and her last and only contact with SW was 1 year ago. Alleged Birthdad has never met our FD and has had no contact since being served about 1 year ago (although he does have an attorney). I believe our FD would be considered abandoned in our state... and there is a previous TPR on mom. SW is filing the petition next month, and court dates are a minimum of 6 months out right now... Would the SW need to publish first?
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I know things can be different in different states, but I can't see a way that this would happen. TPR is a legal process, and as such it needs to be ruled on by the judge. The state needs to present evidence. Even if the case meets the legal criteria for abandonment, the state needs to provide evidence of that for the judge to rule on. Filing a petition does none of these things. It would be like if someone sued you, and you being found liable when the suit was filed. No matter how cut and dried a case is, it needs to go through due process. Unfortunately, it sounds like the only way it could happen more quickly would be for both parents to sign voluntary relinquishments, which sounds unlikely if they can't be found.
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