The Court of Appeals in the IN RE PETITION OF A.T.J. AND L.D.J., decided on March 18, 2021, further clarified the meaning of “grasping parental opportunity interest” in context of adoption petitions. At trial, the biological father’s rights were terminated during adoption litigation for the minor child with the father objecting to the proceeding. The biological father had primarily argued in the case that the trial court did not properly apply a parental presumption: that is, it terminated his parental rights without first making a finding of parental unfitness. Prior caselaw had established that the presumption in favor of a
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The Court of Appeals in Boyd v. Boyd, for the first time analyzed and addressed whether an inchoate personal injury claim during the marriage is considered a marital property or a sole and separate property. Shortly before divorce was finalized, the wife had incurred an accident giving rise to a personal injury claim which was not yet initiated or resolved. The trial court there had held that an inchoate personal injury claim was not a marital asset because there was: No way of valuing it, and that Pain and suffering from the accident were “intensely personal,” and any recovery for
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