CHILD WELFARE MANUAL

453.050 Waiving of Necessity of Consent, When Permitted – How Executed

Waiving of necessity of consent, when permitted — how executed. — 1.  The juvenile court may, upon application, permit a parent to waive the necessity of such person’s consent to a future adoption of the child.  However, that approval cannot be granted until the child is at least two days old.

  2.  The waiver of consent may be executed before or after the institution of the adoption proceedings, and shall be executed in front of a judge or acknowledged before a notary public, or in lieu of such acknowledgment, the signature of the person giving such written consent shall be witnessed by the signatures of at least two adult persons whose addresses shall be plainly written thereon.  If waiver of consent is executed in front of a judge, it shall be the duty of the judge to advise the consenting party of the consequences of the waiver of consent.

  3.  A waiver of consent shall be valid and effective even though the parent waiving consent was under eighteen years of age at the time of the execution thereof.

(L. 1947 V. II p. 213 § 9609, A.L. 1959 H.B. 438, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1171, et al., A.L. 1985 H.B. 366, et al., A.L. 2013 S.B. 100)

(1955) Parent does not have arbitrary right to revoke consent to adoption, but such revocation may be permitted for cause in sound discretion of court. Adoption of McKinzie (A.), 275 S.W.2d 365.

(1956) Since consent is irrevocable without leave of court, it is revocable with leave of court, so that a remedy is available to rectify injudicious consent. In re Mayernik (Mo.), 292 S.W.2d 562.