## Facts

- T.O. and D.J.T. cohabited for about five years and had a son, E.E.F., born June 13, 1983; T.O. later acknowledged D.J.T. as the child’s natural father.
- After the child’s birth, the parents and child lived together for about two and a half years; the father performed some parental responsibilities, though the extent was disputed.
- In 1985, T.O. ended the relationship, left with the child, and married S.O. (the stepfather).
- The natural father continued periodic visits but provided little support; the mother did not request support.
- In 1986, the mother proposed that S.O. adopt the child, citing reasons including the child’s surname and medical coverage.
- The parties asked a clerk whether they could modify a standard adoption consent form to include visitation; they were told the form could not be altered.
- The father signed the unmodified written consent form; the adoption decree was entered, and the father did not attend the adoption hearing.
- After the adoption, the father continued visiting until the mother eventually terminated contact.
- The father moved to set aside the adoption decree, asserting his consent was induced by a promise or understanding that he would retain visitation, which he argued was legally unenforceable.

## Issues

1. Whether a natural parent’s written consent to a stepparent adoption is invalid when it was influenced by an informal understanding that the parent would continue post-adoption visitation.
2. Whether the father established grounds for relief from the final adoption decree under C.R.C.P. 60(b), given the policy favoring finality of adoptions.

## Decision

- The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the juvenile court’s denial of the motion to set aside the adoption decree.
- The Court held that the father’s consent was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily given despite the parties’ informal understanding about continued visitation.
- The Court concluded that the alleged visitation promise/understanding did not justify relief from judgment under C.R.C.P. 60(b).

## Legal Principles

- A natural parent’s consent to adoption must be voluntary and informed; an informal expectation of continued contact, not incorporated into the decree, does not by itself negate a valid written consent.
- Adoption terminates the natural parent’s legal parental rights; informal arrangements about contact are collateral and generally not enforceable through the adoption decree.
- Relief from a final adoption judgment under C.R.C.P. 60(b) requires proof of specified grounds (e.g., fraud, mistake, duress, or other extraordinary circumstances); disappointment or a later dispute about informal understandings is insufficient.
- Courts give significant weight to the finality and stability of completed adoptions when evaluating post-decree challenges.

## Conclusion

The court refused to set aside a finalized stepparent adoption where the natural father signed a standard written consent form and later claimed he did so based on an informal, non-decree understanding about continued visitation, because the record supported a finding of voluntary consent and did not establish Rule 60(b) grounds to disturb the adoption’s finality.


In re Petition of S.O., 795 P.2d 254 (Colo. 1990)