A.B. v. Jo.D.

921 N.E.2d 867, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 277, 2010 WL 668028
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 25, 2010
DocketNo. 49A02-0907-CV-671
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 921 N.E.2d 867 (A.B. v. Jo.D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.B. v. Jo.D., 921 N.E.2d 867, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 277, 2010 WL 668028 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

NAJAM, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

AB. ("Mother")1 and N.E.2 separately appeal from the trial court's order denying their joint motion to set aside the court's decree granting a petition filed by Jo.D. and Ja.D. ("Paternal Grandparents") to [870]*870adopt L.D. ("the Child"). We address the following restated issues: 3

1. Whether Indiana Code Section 31-19-9-1 requires Mother's consent to the adoption of L.D. by the Paternal Grandparents.
2. Whether the adoption decree ("Decree" or "Adoption Decree") is void due to lack of service of process on Mother.
3. Whether the notice provisions in the adoption statute violate Due Process and Equal Protection rights provided in the United States Constitution.
4. Whether the trial court correctly construed Indiana Code Section 31-17-5-9 of the Grandparent Visitation Act ("the Act") regarding N.E.'s request for visitation with LD. following the entry of the Decree.

We affirm in part and dismiss in part.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On March 1, 2003, while incarcerated, Mother gave birth to L.D. Mother was not married at the time. Sometime shortly after the birth, N.E., a co-worker of Mother, obtained guardianship of the Child.4 At some point, paternity of the Child was established in the son of the Paternal Grandparents ("Father"), whom the Paternal Grandparents had adopted as an infant.5

On August 9, 2003, the Paternal Grandparents filed a petition to adopt the Child. In December 2004, the court issued an Agreed Entry ("2004 Agreed Entry") under the paternity and guardianship cause numbers.6 The 2004 Agreed Entry dissolved N.E.'s guardianship of the Child. The order also awarded joint legal custody of the Child to the Paternal Grandparents and Mother; physical custody of the Child to the Paternal Grandparents; non-custodial parenting time to Mother, to be supervised by N.E.; and non-custodial parenting time to N.E. individually. On April 15, 2005, N.E. adopted Mother.7

In June 2006, the trial court entered another Agreed Entry (©2006 Agreed Entry") under the paternity cause number. The 2006 Agreed Entry modified the 2004 Agreed Entry as follows:

2. Mother's visitation with [the Child] is terminated, effective immediately, pending her appearance before the Court and having a hearing to determine [871]*871Mother's fitness to have contact with [the Child].
3. Visitation between [the Child] and [N.E.] shall be in the nature of noncustodial parenting time, pursuant to the Indiana Supreme Court Parenting Time Guidelines, and include the holiday parenting time schedule, with [certain exceptions listed.]

Mother's App. at 21-22. Mother was incarcerated at the Rockville Correctional Facility from September 2006 through July 2007.

On August 23, 2007, the Paternal Grandparents again filed a Petition for Adoption ("the Petition"). In the Petition, they alleged that Mother's consent was not required for the adoption because "she has knowingly and without justifiable cause failed to communicate significantly with, care for, or support the children [sic] for over one year when she was able to do so. Her whereabouts are unknown." Id. at 26. The Paternal Grandparents also filed an affidavit alleging that they did not have Mother's address or telephone number; that they had inquired with the Indiana Department of Correction and the Marion County Jail and learned that Mother was not at that time incarcerated; and that Mother had not contacted the Child since August 2005. On October 9, 2007, the Paternal Grandparents filed proof of service of the Petition on Mother by publication in the Indianapolis Recorder. Father filed his consent to the adoption in November 2007. No notice of the Petition was given to N.E.

On January 31, 2008, the Paternal Grandparents dropped L.D. off with N.E. for visitation. During N.E.'s visitation, the Paternal Grandparents attended a hearing on the Petition, and the trial court issued the Decree granting the Petition. When the Paternal Grandparents picked up LD., they informed N.E. that they had adopted the Child and that her visitation with him would be phased out.

On February 13, 2008, Mother and N.E. filed a joint motion for rule to show cause, to intervene in the adoption, and for relief from judgment ('the Motion"). The Paternal Grandparents filed a motion to dismiss the Motion. N.E. subsequently filed a petition for parenting time pending a hearing on the Motion, and, following a hearing on the visitation request, the trial court granted N.E. one day of visitation per month in April and May 2008. The cause was then transferred to Marion Superior Court 4, which had presided over the paternity case.

On August 26, the court held a hearing and heard evidence solely on the issue of whether the Adoption Decree should be set aside. Following the hearing, the court took the matter under advisement. The trial court later ordered the parties to mediate, but mediation was unsuccessful. On March 31, 2009, the court issued its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Judgment ("Judgment"), denying the motion to set aside the Decree. The court found in relevant part:

3. In August 2005, the [Paternal Grandparents] again [sic] petitioned for adoption of [the Child]. In 2007, without notice to [N.E.], publication notice was provided to [Mother]. In support of the publication notice, the [Paternal Grandparents] submitted a sworn affidavit to the adoption court detailing their efforts to locate [Mother] by contacting both the Indiana Department of Correetion and the Marion County Jail on August 20, 2007. On August 21, 2007, they inquired of [N.E.] about the whereabouts of [Mother]. Their petition alleged that [Mother] was unfit and that she had not communicated significantly or supported the child for over one year. The [Paternal Grandparents] inquired at [872]*872[Mother's] last known address, that of her adoptive mother, [N.E.], whether [Mother] was residing there and if [N.E.] knew where she was living. They were given a negative reply to both queries; they subsequently filed notice of the adoption proceeding by publication.
4. The adoption was finalized in Marion Superior Court 8 on January 31, 2008, under cause number 49D08-0708-AD-085277.
5. On or about February 13, 2008, [N.E. and Mother] jointly filed a combined Motion for Rule to Show Cause, To Intervene in Adoption Cause of Action, and For Relief from Judgment or Order So As To Set Aside Adoption Decree. The Motion for Relief from Judgment included Indiana Trial Rules 60(B)(1), (8), (4) and (7).
6. Evidence was taken on [N.E. and Mother's] Motion to Set Aside on Aw gust 26, 2008 and November 12, 2008.[8]
7. The parties, by agreement, were ordered to mediation in the interim; mediation was held on March 10, 2009. Mediation was not successful.
8. At the hearing on August 26, 2008, no evidence was presented by [Mother] under Trial Rule 60(B)(1) regarding mistake, surprise, or excusable neglect. No evidence was presented under Trial Rule 60(B)(8) regarding fraud.

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Related

A.B. v. Jo.D.
938 N.E.2d 666 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
921 N.E.2d 867, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 277, 2010 WL 668028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ab-v-jod-indctapp-2010.