# In Re Cesar L.

> West Virginia Supreme Court · October 25, 2007 · 221 W. Va. 249

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9847215

## Case

- **Full name:** In Re CESAR L.
- **Court:** West Virginia Supreme Court
- **Decided:** October 25, 2007
- **Citations:** 221 W. Va. 249; 654 S.E.2d 373; 2007 W. Va. LEXIS 75
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Benjamin
- **Judges:** Albright, Benjamin, Davis
- **Cited by:** 77 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9847215

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that when “parental rights have been terminated by a final order, as the result of . . . a voluntary relinquishment of parental rights, [that person] does not have standing . . . to move for a modification of disposition[.]”
- explaining that the plain language of the modification statute permits a proper party “to move for a modification of the child’s disposition where a change of circumstances warrants such a modification”
- stating that incarceration alone, which removed 7 parent’s ability to care for child, was a “[m]ere ‘duress of circumstance’” that did not constitute duress to set aside voluntary relinquishment.
- stating that incarceration alone, which removed parent’s ability to care for child, was a “[m]ere ‘duress of circumstance’” that did not constitute duress to set aside voluntary relinquishment.
- holding that a “voluntary relinquishment is valid pursuant to W.Va. Code § 49-6-7 [now § 49–4-607] if the relinquishment is . . . ‘entered into under circumstances free from duress and fraud.’”

## Opinion text

BENJAMIN, Justice,
concurring.
This case is not about the mother. It is about Cesar L. It is about his welfare. The mother had counsel. The mother voluntarily relinquished her maternal rights. There was no fraud. There was no duress. This voluntary relinquishment was notarized. Cesar L. is entitled to permanency and stability. Judge Silver ruled correctly and in the best interests of this child. I concur in this affirmation.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9847215. Public record. Not legal advice.