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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


In the Matter of ANTHONY C. FERRIS and RICHARD HAROLD FERRIS, Minors.

FAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY, Petitioner-Appellee, v RICHARD FERRIS, JR., Respondent-Appellant, and TINA MOGGO, Respondent.

UNPUBLISHED July 16, 1999

No. 213734 Antrim Circuit Court Family Division LC No. 98-000040 NA

Before: Holbrook, Jr., P.J., and Zahra and J.W. Fitzgerald,* JJ. PER CURIAM. Respondent-appellant appeals as of right from the family court order terminating his parental rights to the minor children. We affirm, but remand to the lower court to amend the termination order by including the statutory ground(s) for termination. Contrary to respondent-appellant's argument, the trial court's failure to explicitly state the statutory grounds for termination in its order, in accordance with MCR 5.974(G)(3), does not mandate that this Court reverse or vacate the order. Where it is clear from the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law that termination of parental rights was appropriate under one or more statutory subsections, reversal is not required. Cf. In re Toler, 193 Mich App 474, 476; 484 NW2d 672

* Former Supreme Court justice, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment. -1

(1992). Failure to strictly comply with a court rule does not necessarily require reversal. In re Kirkwood, 187 Mich App 542, 546; 468 NW2d 280 (1991). Here, the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law indicate that its decision to terminate respondent-appellant's parental rights was based on at least one of the following statutory grounds: MCL 712A.19b(3)(a)(ii); MSA 27.3178(598.19b)(3)(a)(ii) [desertion of the child for 91 or more days without seeking custody during that period]; MCL 712A.19b(3)(i); MSA 27.3178(598.19b)(3)(i) [parental rights to 1 or more siblings of the child have been terminated due to serious and chronic neglect or abuse, and prior attempts to rehabilitate the parent has been unsuccessful]; and MCL 712A.19b(3)(l); MSA 27.3178(598.19b)(3)(l) [parent's rights to another child were terminated as a result of proceedings under

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