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MTM v. LD2/14/2002
tes of those subsections.
[ ] The final contention of the father is that the adoption should be reversed. His appellate brief contains little cogent argument or authority in regard to this issue, and in fact, it is difficult precisely to determine the nature of the father's complaint. There is a hint of a sufficiency of the evidence argument, but the father's primary concern seems to be that his "rights" were violated.
[ ] We have held that the right to associate with one's family is a fundamental liberty interest under the United States Constitution and Wyo. Const. art. 1, §§ 2, 6, 7 and 36. Matter of GP, 679 P.2d at 981; DS v. Department of Public Assistance and Social Services, 607 P.2d 911, 918 (Wyo. 1980). We have also made it clear that we revere the family relationship:
"It may be that in matters such as this, lawyers, judges, parents--all of us--should digress from the ordinary course of things to contemplate how deeply seated the child-parent relationship is in the warp and woof of the American fabric. In this matter, where the law must decide whether a child will be separated from [her father], we have looked to the Declaration of Independence for guidance." Matter of GP, 679 P.2d at 981 (quoting DS, 607 P.2d at 919).
[ ] We do not take lightly the issue of adopting a child without a parent's consent. "[A]doption statutes are strictly construed when the proceeding is against a non-consenting parent and every reasonable intendment is made in favor of the parent's claims." Matter of Voss' Adoption, 550 P.2d 481, 485 (Wyo. 1976). Strict construction is mandated by the fact that parental rights are fundamental rights. DS, 607 P.2d at 918.
[ ] The record reflects that the father had knowledge as early as January 1993 that his daughter was being supported by DFS. However, he has never substantially contributed to her maintenance. The record indicates that the father had on occasion given money to his daughter, but the number of times this occurred or the exact amount is not known. It has been estimated to be approximately $100.00 over the last several years. The record indicates that the father made no payments to the Clerk of the District Court, Natrona County, regarding child support for KJD. He was requested to do so in his case plan for reunification dated July 16, 1996, with minimal payments of fifty dollars per month to begin on August 1, 1996.
[ ] At the adoption hearing on January 22, 2001, several people testified that the father had not paid child support. When the first social worker was asked whether the father had paid support, she responded that he had not, and to her knowledge he had never paid child support. This social worker also indicated that the father was not in agreement with the case plan because he did not want to pay child support. KJD's step-grandmother testified that to her knowledge, the father had never paid child support, but that he had given KJD money at different times. The guardian ad litem testified that at the dispositional/review hearing on November 18, 1999, where the district court ordered the father to pay child support, he basically told the district court that he would not.
[ ] We note that the father has the ability to earn money and to contribute to the maintenance of KJD. The record indicates that prior to arriving in Wyoming, the father was a self-employed woodcutter for seven years, earning approximately $200.00 to $400.00 per month. He was employed in Casper as a woodcutter at Great Canadian Log Home Company and he worked for an auto body shop in Sheridan. However, the father refused to supply DFS with any information as to how much he earned while employed.
[ ] The father did not coo
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