Deboer v. Schmidt

199 Mich. App. 10
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 29, 1993
DocketDocket No. 161102
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 199 Mich. App. 10 (Deboer v. Schmidt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deboer v. Schmidt, 199 Mich. App. 10 (Mich. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

This case has been remanded to this Court for consideration as on leave granted. 441 Mich 930 (1993). Respondent Daniel Schmidt appeals from an order entered on January 11, 1993, by the Washtenaw Circuit Court denying his motion for summary disposition and to dissolve a preliminary injunction. We reverse.

This highly publicized case concerns a dispute over the rights to a child. On February 8, 1991, Baby Girl Clausen (bgc) was born to Cara Clausen in Iowa. On February 10, 1991, Clausen signed a release-of-custody form relinquishing her parental rights to bgc. Clausen, who was unmarried at the time of the birth (but who married Daniel Schmidt in April 1992), had named Scott Seefeldt as the father. On February 14, 1991, Seefeldt executed a release-of-custody form.

On February 25, 1991, petitioners Roberta and Jan DeBoer, who are Michigan residents, filed a petition for adoption of bgc in juvenile court in Iowa. A hearing was held the same day. Cara Clausen received notice of, but did not attend, the hearing. At the hearing, the parental rights of Cara Clausen and Scott Seefeldt were terminated, and petitioners were granted custody of bgc. The DeBoers returned to Michigan with bgc. The child has lived with the DeBoers in Michigan continuously since that time.

On March 6, 1991, Cara Clausen filed a request in the Iowa juvenile court to revoke her release of custody. In an affidavit accompanying the request, Clausen stated that she had lied when she named Seefeldt as the biological father of bgc and that the child’s biological father was Daniel Schmidt. Schmidt filed an affidavit of paternity on March [13]*1312, 1991. At a hearing in juvenile court attended by Clausen and the DeBoers, the court dismissed Clausen’s request to revoke her release of custody on the ground that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because a petition for adoption had been filed. The court also dismissed Schmidt’s attempt to claim custody. The DeBoers and bgc returned to Michigan.

On March 27, 1991, Schmidt filed a petition in the district court in Iowa, seeking to intervene in the adoption proceeding initiated by the DeBoers. He asserted that he had not given consent for the adoption. Doubting Clausen’s truthfulness, the DeBoers denied that Schmidt was the natural father of the child. The court ordered blood tests. The DeBoers objected and, as a result, it was not until September 1991 that the test results were available. They showed a 99.9 percent probability that Schmidt was the father of bgc, and a zero percent probability that Seefeldt was the father. On September 24, 1991, the DeBoers filed a petition in the Iowa district court to terminate Schmidt’s parental rights. They alleged that Schmidt was an unfit parent because he had abandoned bgc and two other children, born several years earlier.

On November 4, 1991, the district court in Iowa conducted a bench trial with regard to the issues of paternity, termination of parental rights, and adoption. In findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a decree entered on December 27, 1991, the district court found that Schmidt established by a preponderance of the evidence that he was the biological father of bgc, that the DeBoers failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that Schmidt had abandoned the child or that his parental rights should be terminated, and that a "best interests of the child” analysis did not become material unless and until abandonment was [14]*14established. On the basis of these findings, the court concluded that the termination proceeding was void with respect to Schmidt and that the DeBoers’ petition to adopt bgc must be denied. The court ordered that the DeBoers return physical custody of the child to Schmidt no later than January 12, 1992, at 6:00 p.m. The court retained jurisdiction under its general equitable powers in order to complete any matters necessary to protect the interests of bgc.

In the meantime, the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the termination of Cara Clausen’s parental rights and remanded the case to juvenile court for further proceedings. The Iowa Supreme Court granted further review of that decision.

The DeBoers appealed the district court’s decision to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Supreme Court stayed the district court’s order changing physical custody of bgc. The Supreme Court consolidated its review of the Court of Appeals decision concerning Cara Clausen’s parental rights with the appeal filed by the DeBoers. In a decision filed on September 23, 1992, the Supreme Court affirmed both decisions. The Supreme Court rejected the DeBoers’ argument that a "best interests of the child” analysis governed the issue of termination in an adoption case, and found that because termination of parental rights was governed by statute, statutory grounds for termination must be established before reaching a determination of the child’s best interests. The Supreme Court held that the district court correctly concluded that the DeBoers’ petition for adoption should be dismissed.

On November 20, 1992, the Supreme Court denied the DeBoers’ motion for reconsideration and remanded the case to the district court for issuance of an order changing physical custody of bgc [15]*15from the DeBoers to Schmidt. The district court ordered the DeBoers to appear on December 3, 1992, with bgc. The DeBoers did not appear at the hearing; instead, their Iowa attorney informed the court that the DeBoers had received actual notice of the hearing, but had decided not to appear. In an order entered on December 3, 1992, the district court terminated the DeBoers’ rights as temporary guardians and custodians of bgc, and, to the extent necessary, appointed Schmidt as temporary guardian and custodian until further order of the court. Schmidt was given authority to proceed by any legal means to enforce the order requiring the DeBoers to relinquish possession of the child. The court found that the DeBoers had no legal right or claim to physical custody of the child and that they were acting outside any legal claim to custody or possession of the child. The court scheduled a hearing for December 18, 1992, for the DeBoers to show cause why they should not be held in contempt.1 The court also found that the DeBoers should be assessed attorney fees and costs.

In Michigan, on December 3, 1992, the same day the DeBoers’ rights were terminated in Iowa, they filed a petition in Washtenaw Circuit Court pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (uccja), MCL 600.651 et seq.; MSA 27A.651 et seq. The petition sought modification of the Iowa order granting custody of bgc to Schmidt. The DeBoers argued that Michigan had jurisdiction under the uccja because bgc had resided in Michigan for all but approximately three weeks of her life, and Michigan was the home state of bgc as that term was defined by the uccja. The petition alleged [16]*16that it would be in the best interests of bgc for Michigan to assume jurisdiction. On December 3, 1992, the Washtenaw Circuit Court entered an ex parte order entitled "preliminary injunction,” which ordered Schmidt not to remove bgc from Washtenaw County.

On December 11, 1992, Schmidt filed a motion for summary disposition, to dissolve the preliminary injunction, and to recognize and enforce the Iowa judgment in the instant case. The Washtenaw Circuit Court held a hearing regarding Schmidt’s motion on January 5, 1993.

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Related

In Re Clausen
502 N.W.2d 649 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1993)
DeBoer v. Schmidt
502 N.W.2d 649 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1993)
In Re Clausen
501 N.W.2d 193 (Michigan Court of Appeals, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
199 Mich. App. 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deboer-v-schmidt-michctapp-1993.