{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10-10-7501-1.3","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 10, § 10-7501-1.3","heading":"Definitions","body":"As used in the Oklahoma Adoption Code:\n\n1. “Abandonment” includes, but is not limited to, the\n\nfollowing:\n\na. the parent has left the minor alone or in the care of\n\nanother who is not the parent of the minor without\n\nidentifying the minor or furnishing a means of\n\nidentification for the minor, the whereabouts of the\n\nparents are unknown, and the minor's identity cannot\n\nbe ascertained by the exercise of reasonable\n\ndiligence,\n\nb. the parent has voluntarily left the minor alone or in\n\nthe care of another who is not the parent of the minor\n\nand expressed a willful intent by words, actions, or\n\nomissions not to return for the minor, or\n\nc. the parent fails to maintain a substantial and\n\npositive relationship with the minor for a period of\n\nsix (6) consecutive months out of the last fourteen\n\n(14) months immediately preceding the filing of a\n\npetition for termination of parental rights. For\n\npurposes of this section, “establish and/or maintain a\n\nsubstantial, positive relationship” includes but is\n\nnot limited to:\n\n(1) frequent and regular contact with the minor\n\nthrough frequent and regular visitation or\n\nfrequent, regular communication to or with the\n\nminor, and\n\n(2) exercising parental rights and responsibilities.\n\nIncidental or token visits or communications\n\nshall not be sufficient to establish or maintain\n\na substantial and positive relationship with the\n\nminor.\n\nThe term \"abandonment\" shall not include when a parent has\n\nrelinquished a minor to or placed the minor in the custody of a\n\nlicensed child-placing agency or other court-appointed individual;\n\n2. \"Adoptee\" means an individual who is adopted or is to be\n\nadopted;\n\n3. \"Adult\" means an individual who has attained eighteen (18)\n\nyears of age;\n\n4. \"Minor\" means any person who has not attained the age of\n\neighteen (18) years;\n\n5. \"Child-placing agency\" means any child welfare agency\n\nlicensed pursuant to the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing\n\nAct and authorized to place minors for adoption;\n\n6. \"Contested proceeding\" means any proceeding pursuant to the\n\nOklahoma Adoption Code in which an interested party enters an\n\nappearance to contest the petition;\n\n7. \"Department\" means the Department of Human Services;\n\n8. \"Direct placement adoption\" means any adoption in which the\n\nminor is not placed for adoption by the Department of Human Services\n\nor a child-placing agency. A stepparent or relative adoption shall\n\nnot be considered a direct placement adoption;\n\n9. \"Guardian\" means an individual, other than a parent,\n\nappointed by a court to be the guardian of the person of a minor;\n\n10. \"Parent\" means an individual who is the biological or\n\nadoptive parent of a child or who is legally recognized as a mother\n\nor father of a child. The term \"parent\" does not include an\n\nindividual whose parental relationship to a child has been\n\nterminated;\n\n11. \"Permanent relinquishment\" means the voluntary surrender of\n\nthe rights of the parent or guardian with respect to a minor,\n\nincluding legal and physical custody of the minor, to a child-\n\nplacing agency, Department of Human Services or any person with the\n\nassent of the court, by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes\n\nof the minor's adoption;\n\n12. \"Putative father\" means the father of a minor born out of\n\nwedlock or a minor whose mother was married to another person at the\n\ntime of the birth of the minor or within the ten (10) months prior\n\nto the birth of the minor and includes, but is not limited to, a man\n\nwho has acknowledged or claims paternity of a minor, a man named by\n\nthe mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man\n\nwho is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman\n\nduring a possible time of conception;\n\n13. “Relative adoption” means the placement of a child for\n\nadoption with a parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister,\n\nfirst cousin, nephew, niece, uncle or aunt, who is related to the\n\nchild by either birth or marriage;\nhe mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man\n\nwho is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman\n\nduring a possible time of conception;\n\n13. “Relative adoption” means the placement of a child for\n\nadoption with a parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister,\n\nfirst cousin, nephew, niece, uncle or aunt, who is related to the\n\nchild by either birth or marriage;\n\n14. \"State\" means any state, territory, or possession of the\n\nUnited States, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of\n\nColumbia; and\n\n15. \"Stepparent\" means an individual who is the spouse or\n\nsurviving spouse of a parent of a minor, but who is not a legal\n\nparent of the minor.","path":["OK Code","Title 10"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os10.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"55054b5026b6578e892d3b8ad4fb59b1db81a95ad7edf0385412924cd156e7ed","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10-10-7501-1.2","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10-10-7502-1.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}