Opinion
Record No. 021186.
June 6, 2003.
Present: All the Justices.
After the Commonwealth's Division of Child Support Enforcement brought a petition, the juvenile and domestic relations general district court entered an order that the natural mother of two girls who are in foster care must provide support. The circuit court heard the matter de novo and determined that the support obligation would continue only until the date on which the mother's parental rights were terminated. The agency appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court judgment, ruling that a parent whose "residual parental rights" had been terminated no longer owed a duty of support to her minor children. This appeal followed.
1. The Court of Appeals concluded that the termination of parental rights includes the termination of parental responsibilities as well as any correlative rights, and accordingly it held that a parent whose parental rights have been terminated no longer has a legal duty to support his or her child because the parent has become a "legal stranger" to that child.
2. For the reasons set forth in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, that Court's judgment is affirmed.
Appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Affirmed.
Gary P. Webb, Special Counsel (Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General; David E. Johnson, Deputy Attorney General; Craig M. Burshem, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Beth J. Edwards, Regional Special Counsel, on briefs), for appellant.
Eric H. Feiler (Edward J. Fuhr; Stacy M. Colvin; Terence J. Rasmussen; Hunton Williams, on brief), for appellee.
In this appeal, the Court reviews a judgment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia affirming a circuit court judgment in which the circuit court determined that a parent whose "residual parental rights" had been terminated no longer owed a duty of support to her minor children.Commonwealth v. Fletcher, 38 Va. App. 107, 562 S.E.2d 327 (2002).
The Court of Appeals concluded that the termination of parental rights includes "the termination of parental responsibilities as well as any correlative rights." Id. at 112, 562 S.E.2d at 329. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals held that a parent whose parental rights have been terminated no longer has a legal duty to support his or her child because the parent has become a "legal stranger" to that child. Id.
For the reasons set forth in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, we will affirm that Court's judgment.
Affirmed.