Me. Rev. Stat. » Title 19-A
Maine Revised Statutes

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 19-A, § 1502 (2026)

Either parent dead or guilty of abandonment, rights devolve on other

✓ current as of May 2026
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If one of the parents of a minor child is dead or has abandoned the child, all parental rights respecting the child devolve upon the other parent.   [PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 (NEW); PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. E, §2 (AFF).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1995, c. 694, §B2 (NEW). PL 1995, c. 694, §E2 (AFF).
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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2006–2025 · leading case: In re Austin T., 898 A.2d 946 (Me. 2006).
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In re Austin T., 898 A.2d 946 (Me. 2006). “…issue a termination order if “[cjustody has been removed from the parent” pursuant to 22 M.R.S. §§ 4035 or 4038, or 19-A M.R.S. §§ 1502 or 1653. 22 M.R.S. § 4055(1)(A)(1)(a), (b). In addition, unless the parent from whom custody has been removed consents to the termination,…”
Pamela J. (Tower) Weinle v. Est. of Allan R. Tower, 2025 ME 62 (Me. 2025). “She further argues that the court erred in finding that she engaged in economic misconduct and in imposing a 2 The death of a party during an appeal from a divorce judgment would, however, likely moot the appeal as to other issues. For example, any issue as to parental rights…”
Pat Doe v. Debora J. Batie, 2020 ME 124 (Me. 2020). “DISCUSSION [¶5] Batie contends that the court erred—as a matter of fact and law— by determining that her actions in taking the children to Arizona and keeping 2 The court also awarded Doe temporary parental rights and responsibilities for the children.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.