Title: Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 1, Department C. Calvin B., Appellant v. Brittany (BY: Caitlin B.)

Title: Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 1, Department C. Calvin B., Appellant v. Brittany B., G.B, Appellees. The Arizona Court of Appeals held in Calvin B. v. Brittany B., 232 Ariz. 292 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2013) that the mother of the child could not terminate the father’s parental rights based on the claims of abandonment. The mother of the child petitioned to terminate divorced father’s paternal rights based on abandonment because the father had not paid hardly any child support over the past five years and had had little to no contact with the child. The father admitted that he had paid very little child support in the past, but he had made numerous requests to see the child and the mother denied him visitation. In their divorce decree they agreed to twice monthly supervised visits of the child. In 2009 Brittany filed for an order of protection for her and the couple’s son against Calvin. She claimed that Calvin had been using dangerous drugs and was abusive towards her while she was pregnant. Calvin was to have no contact with Brittany. Calvin was to set up visitation with Brittany’s parents from that point on. In approximately November 2010 Brittany ended the visits with Calvin and their son. Calvin had tried to contact Brittany’s parents and they ignored his requests and eventually blocked his phone calls. He attempted to call and text Brittany even though there was a protective order in place. Each time she called the cops on Calvin and he was arrested. His text messages said, “I know I’m not supposed to contact you, please don’t call the cops. Can we please set up a time so I can see him? I really miss him.” The court held that Calvin had failed to complete the parenting class that was required to have the supervised visits, and that he also had paid little to no child support for the child. Calvin had also not established a strong relationship with the child in the last five years. The court of Appeals found that the father had not established much of a relationship with the child, but the claim of ‘abandonment’ cannot be put into place if the custodial parent restricts the other parent from accessing the child. Since Calvin had contacted Brittany and her parents on multiple occasions asking to see the child he was attempting to establish some sort of relationship.