L.N.S. v. S.W.S.

854 N.W.2d 699, 2013 WL 6700356, 2013 Iowa App. LEXIS 1307
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedDecember 18, 2013
DocketNo. 12-2287
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 854 N.W.2d 699 (L.N.S. v. S.W.S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
L.N.S. v. S.W.S., 854 N.W.2d 699, 2013 WL 6700356, 2013 Iowa App. LEXIS 1307 (iowactapp 2013).

Opinion

VOGEL, P.J.

A grandmother appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of her grandchild’s mother. The court determined that due to the termination of her son’s parental rights the grandmother no longer had the right to enforce a grandparent visitation order she had obtained in Georgia and she no longer had standing to pursue her claims. We first determine the issues the grandmother raises on appeal do not address the basis for the court’s decision — that is, because her son’s parental rights had been terminated, the grandmother no longer had standing nor an enforceable right to visitation with the child. She has therefore waived these issues. We next find the Iowa district court had subject matter jurisdiction under Iowa Code chapter 598B (2009), the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), and the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), 28 U.S.C. § 1738A (2012). Affirmed.

I. Background Facts & Proceedings

William and Sarah were married in Iowa in 2003, and a child, R.S., was born to them in Georgia in 2004. They lived in Georgia for a period of time, then separated. Sarah and R.S. moved to Iowa in January 2006. William went to Florida, where he killed his girlfriend and was convicted of first-degree murder. He is serving a life sentence in Florida. Linda, the mother of William, is a resident of Georgia. She obtained an order from a Georgia court on September 14, 2006, granting her grandparent visitation with R.S.1

For over three years, Sarah followed the Georgia visitation order but discontinued the visits in late 2009. On December 29, 2009, Linda registered the Georgia grandparent visitation order in the Iowa District Court for Story County. On April 19, 2010, Linda filed a petition in Story County seeking to enforce the order, stating Sarah was not permitting her to have visitation with the child. Prior to that, on October 27, 2009, and in Story County, Sarah had filed a petition for dissolution of marriage from William, referencing the 2006 Georgia order. She amended her petition on February 5, 2010, to detail the. registration and case number of the Georgia order in Iowa. Also on February 5, 2010, she filed a petition to terminate William’s parental rights. All three matters were consolidated in the district court.

Linda filed petitions to intervene in the dissolution and termination proceedings. On May 5, 2010, the district court denied Linda’s petitions to intervene, and she did not appeal the denials. However, the court stayed her petition to enforce the grandparent visitation order until the termination action was-resolved.

On October 8, 2010, the district court terminated William’s parental rights to R.S. under Iowa Code section 600A.8. The court also granted the petition for dissolution of marriage, giving Sarah sole legal custody of the child. While acknowledging the Georgia order, the district court made no provision regarding visitation for Linda in the decree. William only appealed the termination of his parental rights, which this court affirmed on appeal. See In re Marriage of S., No. 10-1786, 2011 WL 2420811 (Iowa Ct.App. June 15, 2011).

On November 14, 2011, Linda again filed a motion seeking to enforce the Georgia grandparent visitation order, noting that the reason for the stay had been resolved with the termination order. Sarah responded by moving for summary judgment, alleging that because William’s pa[702]*702rental rights had been terminated, Linda no longer had any enforceable rights with regard to the child. She also claimed the original Georgia grandparent visitation order was unconstitutional, and therefore, unenforceable. Linda resisted the motion for summary judgment, claiming the Iowa district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to modify or terminate the Georgia order and therefore must enforce it.

After a hearing on the matter, the district court on November 16, 2012, granted Sarah’s motion for summary judgment. The court determined that when William’s parental rights to R.S. were terminated, it also cut off any rights Linda may have had to grandparent visitation. The court found Linda had no standing to pursue her claims, “and she will not be permitted to pursue a petition to enforce visitation rights she no longer possesses.” Moreover, the court noted that Linda did not have a statutory right to grandparent visitation in Iowa because her child, William, was not deceased. See Iowa Code § 600C.1(1) (providing a grandparent may seek visitation when the grandparent’s child, who is the parent of the minor child, is deceased).

Linda filed a motion pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904(2), claiming the court had not addressed her assertion the Iowa courts lacked subject matter jurisdiction “to alter, modify, or terminate the visitation schedule that was established in the state of Georgia.” She cited both Iowa Code chapter 598B, the UCCJEA, and the PKPA, 28 U.S.C. § 1738A. The court framed Linda’s motion as seeking to address “jurisdiction in her claim for intervention,” and found, “for the reasons set forth above in the Motion for Summary Judgment, that ... Linda ... no longer has enforceable visitation rights to the child involved in this matter and that her claim for intervention should be overruled as moot at this time.” Linda now appeals.

II. Standard of Review

Although this action was brought in equity, our review of a district court ruling on a motion for summary judgment is for the correction of errors at law. Freedom Fin. Bank v. Estate of Boesen, 805 N.W.2d 802, 806 (Iowa 2011). Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.981(3); Moore v. Davenport Civil Serv. Comm’n, 790 N.W.2d 809, 813 (Iowa Ct.App.2010). Where a case presents solely legal issues, summary judgment is appropriate. Kucera v. Baldazo, 745 N.W.2d 481, 483 (Iowa 2008).

III. Merits

A. Linda raises the following claims: (1) the district court should have permitted her to intervene in the action to terminate the parental rights of her son, William, (2) under 28 U.S.C. § 1738A, the PKPA, a state must give full faith and credit to a visitation decision made by another state; and therefore her grandparent visitation rights should be enforceable under the UCCJEA, Iowa Code chapter 598B.2

On appeal, Linda does not challenge the basis for the district court’s decision — that because William’s parental rights had been terminated Linda no longer had an enforceable right to visitation [703]*703with the child, nor standing to pursue the issue. Where a party has failed to present any substantive analysis or argument on an issue, the issue has been waived. See State v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In the Interest of B.S., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2026
In the Interest of R.K., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2025
In the Interest of M.A., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2025
In the Interest of K.L., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2024
In the Interest of A.M., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2024
In the Interest of A.V., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2023
In the Interest of A.B., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2023
In the Interest of M.D.W., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2023
In the Interest of E.C., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2022
In the Interest of D.S., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2022
In the Interest of E.M., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2022
In the Interest of A.G., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2021
In the Interest of A.C., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2021
In the Interest of J.G., Minor Child
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2020

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
854 N.W.2d 699, 2013 WL 6700356, 2013 Iowa App. LEXIS 1307, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lns-v-sws-iowactapp-2013.