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Terms Used In Missouri Laws 211.444

  • Child: means any person under eighteen years of age. See Missouri Laws 211.021
  • Juvenile court: means the juvenile division or divisions of the circuit court of the county, or judges while hearing juvenile cases assigned to them. See Missouri Laws 211.021
  • parent: means the mother. See Missouri Laws 211.021
  • Ward: if used in a section in a context relating to the property rights and obligations of a person, means a protectee as defined in chapter 475. See Missouri Laws 1.020

The juvenile court may, upon petition of the juvenile officer or a child-placing agency licensed under sections 210.481 to 210.536 in conjunction with a placement with such agency under subsection 6 of section 453.010 or a private attorney filing a petition for adoption under the provisions of chapter 453, terminate the rights of a parent or receive the consent to a specific adoption or waiver of consent to adoption executed by a parent or named father to a child, including a child who is a ward of the court, if the court finds that such termination, consent to a specific adoption, or waiver of consent to adoption is in the best interests of the child, and the parent or named father has, in a properly executed writing under section 453.030 or 453.050, consented to the termination of his or her parental rights, consented to a specific adoption, or waived consent to adoption.