in the Interest of N.L.D., a Child

412 S.W.3d 810, 2013 WL 5738023, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13187
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 23, 2013
Docket06-13-00046-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by125 cases

This text of 412 S.W.3d 810 (in the Interest of N.L.D., a Child) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
in the Interest of N.L.D., a Child, 412 S.W.3d 810, 2013 WL 5738023, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13187 (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice CARTER.

After a jury trial, the 354th Judicial District Court of Hunt County terminated Tamara Haines’ parental rights to N.L.D. and appointed Jimmy and Angela Black, N.L.D.’s paternal great uncle and great aunt, as N.L.D.’s sole managing conservators. Haines appeals the lower court’s judgment and argues that the trial court erred (1) because Jimmy and Angela lack standing and (2) because there is insufficient evidence to support the jury’s findings upon which the termination and conservatorship orders were based. We affirm the trial court’s ruling that Jimmy and Angela have standing and find that sufficient evidence supported the jury’s verdict appointing Jimmy and Angela as managing conservators; however, we reverse the judgment terminating. Haines’ parental rights because the evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury’s finding that termination was in N.L.D.’s best interest.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

N.L.D. was .born December 20, 2008, and lived with her mother, Haines, until 2010. In 2010, Jimmy and Angela, jointly with Geraldine Black, N.L.D.’s paternal great grandmother, filed a child custody action seeking the managing conservator-ship of N.L.D.1 Their petition alleged that Haines had neglected and physically abused N.L.D. Haines appeared at the first setting of a hearing on preliminary orders.' The trial court reset the matter for August 12, 2010, at which time Haines failed to appear. A hearing was conducted on August 12, 2010, and the trial court appointed Geraldine, Jimmy, and Angela [814]*814as temporary managing conservators of the child, allowing Haines visitation with N.L.D. at such times as might be agreed between the parties.

Although Haines had been duly served with citation, she filed no written response to the petition, and, after she failed to appear at the August 25, 2010, hearing, the trial court entered a default judgment/ taking judicial notice of the testimony from the August 12, 2010, hearing. An order entered August 25, 2010, named Jimmy, Angela, and Geraldine sole managing conservators of N.L.D.2 Haines- appealed the trial court’s order.

On appeal, this Court reversed the trial court’s order and remanded the case for a new hearing because Jimmy and Angela lacked standing as they were not related to N.L.D. within three degrees of consanguinity and because Haines was not given notice of the August 25, 2010, hearing. See In re N.L.D., 344 S.W.3d 33 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2011, no pet.).

On November 28, 2011, Haines answered the original petition. She also filed a counter-petition against Geraldine seeking possession of N.L.D., managing con-servatorship, and á temporary restraining order. Haines alleged that Geraldine hád a history of family violence during the two-year period preceding the suit. In her attached affidavit, she alleged that Geraldine had not allowed her to visit N.L.D. or speak with her on the telephone.

Jimmy and Angela filed a petition to intervene, seeking conservatorship of N.L.D. Jimmy and Angela alleged that they had standing because they had possession of N.L.D. in excess of six months. Haines moved to strike the petition to intervene, arguing, in part, .that Jimmy and Angela lacked standing because they had no substantial past contact with the child. The trial court denied Haines’ motion to strike and held that Jimmy and Angela had standing to intervene under Section 102.004(b) of the Texas Family Code.

The case was ultimately tried to a jury, which resolved all questions regarding termination and conservatorship in favor of Jimmy and Angela and against Haines. Geraldine was not named as managing conservator. The trial court entered orders in accordance with the jury’s findings.

II. Standing to Intervene

Haines contends that Jimmy and Angela lacked standing to intervene in this matter and consequently, that the trial court erred in refusing to strike their petition to intervene. Specifically, Haines argues that Jimmy and Angela “should not be allowed to bootstrap their standing claim through the complicity and with the consent of one whose figurehead status as Temporary Managing Conservator is adversarial to the mother, and whose status as Temporary Managing Conservator is being actively contested.” We conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Jimmy and Angela had standing.

In determining whether the trial court improperly denied Haines’ motion to strike Jimmy and Angela’s petition to intervene, we must decide if the trial court abused its discretion. See Guar. Fed. Sav. Bank v. Horseshoe Operating Co., 793 S.W.2d 652, 657 (Tex.1990); In re N.L.G., 238 S.W.3d 828, 829 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2007, no pet.) (per curiam). A trial court abuses its discretion if it acts without reference to any guiding rules or principles or if it acts in an arbitrary or unreasonable manner. Low v. Henry, 221 S.W.3d 609, 614 (Tex.2007); Cire v. Cummings, 134 [815]*815S.W.3d 835, 838-39 (Tex.2004). However, to the extent the trial court’s ruling depends on an issue of statutory interpretation, we review de novo the court’s ruling. State v. Shumake,. 199 S.W.3d 279, 284 (Tex.2006). “In construing a statute, our objective is to determine and give effect to the Legislature’s intent.” See Harris Cnty. Hosp. Dist. v. Tomball Reg’l Hasp., 283 S.W.3d 838, 842 (Tex.2009) (citations omitted).

As a general rule, an individual’s standing to intervene is commensurate with that individual’s standing to file an original lawsuit. Whitworth v. Whitworth, 222 S.W.3d 616, 621 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, no pet.). A party’s stands ing to file an original suit affecting the parent-child relationship is governed by Sections 102.003 (general standing) and 102.004(a) (additional standing for grandparent/close relative) of the Texas Family Code. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 102.003 (West Supp.2012), § 102.004(a) (West 2008). Section 102.004(b) of the Texas Family Code provides a relaxed standing rule through which an individual without standing to file an original suit for managing conservatorship may nonetheless intervene in an ongoing suit. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 102.004(b) (West 2008); see also Whitworth, 222 S.W.3d at 621 (noting Section 102.004(b) “applies to interventions seeking managing conservatorships as well as those seeking possessory conservator-ships”). Under Section 102.004(b),

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Bluebook (online)
412 S.W.3d 810, 2013 WL 5738023, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-nld-a-child-texapp-2013.