Ramirez v. Luna

830 N.W.2d 163, 2013 Minn. App. LEXIS 23, 2013 WL 1395623
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedApril 8, 2013
DocketNo. A12-1602
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 830 N.W.2d 163 (Ramirez v. Luna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ramirez v. Luna, 830 N.W.2d 163, 2013 Minn. App. LEXIS 23, 2013 WL 1395623 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

KIRK, Judge.

In this third-party custody dispute, appellant-mother argues that the district court: (1) erred by determining that respondent-grandparents established by clear and convincing evidence that they are interested third parties under Minn. Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 7(a), because extraordinary circumstances exist; (2) abused its discretion by determining that granting grandparents’ third-party custody petition is in the child’s best interests; and (3) erred by failing to consider the factors set forth in Minn.Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 7(b), in determining whether grandparents are interested third parties. Because we conclude that the district court erred by determining that grandparents established by clear and convincing evidence that they are interested third parties, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

Appellant Jessica Luna (mother) and Jose Ramirez, Jr. (father), are the parents of A.L.R. (the child), who was born in April 2009. Mother was 17 years old when the child was born and father was 15 years old; they have never been married. Mother began living with father and his parents, respondents Jose Ramirez, Sr. (grandfather), and Maria DeJesus Ramirez (grandmother), while she was pregnant [166]*166with the child. Mother continued to live with grandmother and grandfather (collectively, grandparents) with the child, father, and grandparents’ other children until September 2011. During that time, the family lived primarily in Minnesota, except for a brief period of time at the end of mother’s pregnancy when they lived in Texas; the child was born in Texas and the family returned to Minnesota shortly afterward. Mother is an undocumented immigrant, father and grandmother are United States citizens, and grandfather is a legal resident.

In September 2011, an altercation occurred between mother and grandmother. As a result of that incident, mother left grandparents’ home with the child, went to stay with her maternal grandmother, and petitioned for an ex parte order for protection (OFP) against grandmother. Grandmother also petitioned for an ex parte OFP against mother, and the district court granted both ex parte petitions. At the same time, grandparents executed, but did not file, a petition for sole legal and sole physical custody of the child.

In October, the district court held an OFP hearing regarding mother’s ex parte OFP against grandmother. Following the hearing, the district court dismissed the OFP. On the same day, grandparents filed the previously executed petition for custody of the child. Four days later, grandparents filed an emergency ex parte motion for immediate temporary legal and physical custody of the child. The district court found that there was a clear and present danger that mother may leave the court’s jurisdiction with the child and granted grandparents temporary sole legal and sole physical custody of the child. The child was removed from mother’s care and placed in grandparents’ care. After a hearing, the district court issued a temporary order incorporating the terms of the ex parte order.

Following a trial on the custody petition, the district court determined that grandparents had established by clear and convincing evidence that they are interested third parties in the custody determination of the child under MinmStat. § 257C.03. The district court further found that it is in the child’s best interests that grandparents receive sole physical and sole legal custody of the child and, as a result, the district court granted sole physical and sole legal custody of the child to grandparents. Finally, the district court adjudicated father to be the father of the child. Mother moved for amended findings or a new trial; the district court denied the motion. This appeal follows.

ISSUE

Did the district court err by determining that grandparents established by clear and convincing evidence that they are interested third parties under Minn.Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 7(a), because extraordinary circumstances exist?

ANALYSIS

This court’s review of a district court’s third-party custody determination is limited to whether the court abused its discretion. Lewis-Miller v. Ross, 710 N.W.2d 565, 568 (Minn.2006). A district court abuses “its discretion by making findings unsupported by the evidence or by improperly applying the law.” Pikula v. Pikula, 374 N.W.2d 705, 710 (Minn.1985). This court will not set aside a district court’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Vangsness v. Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d 468, 472 (Minn.App.2000). But “the interpretation and construction of statutes are questions of law that this court reviews de novo.” Lewis-Miller, 710 N.W.2d at 568.

[167]*167Mother argues that the district court erred by determining that grandparents had established that they are interested third parties. An individual other than a child’s parent may petition the district court for custody of the child as a de facto custodian or an interested third party. Minn.Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 1. An individual has the burden to establish that he or she is an interested third party by showing by clear and convincing evidence that:

(i) the parent has abandoned, neglected, or otherwise exhibited disregard for the child’s well-being to the extent that the child will be harmed by living with the parent;
(ii) placement of the child with the individual takes priority over preserving the day-to-day parent-child relationship because of the presence of physical or emotional danger to the child, or both; or
(Hi) other extraordinary circumstances^]

Id., subd. 7(a)(1). An individual who petitions the district court for custody of a child as an interested third party must also “prove by a preponderance of the evidence” that it is in the child’s best interests for the individual to receive custody of the child. Id., subd. 7(a)(2). Finally, the statute sets forth eight factors that the district court must consider in addressing an interested third party’s petition for custody of a child. Id., subd. 7(b).

The district court found that grandparents established by clear and convincing evidence that extraordinary circumstances exist under Minn.Stat. § 257C.03, subd. 7(a)(l)(iii). Specifically, the district court found that: (1) “At the time the child was born, both [mother] and [father] were minors, and both are still enrolled in high school”; (2) father “is still a minor and continues to reside with [g]randparents”; (3) the child “has lived with [grandparents since her birth”; (4) “[grandparents, particularly [g]randmother, were [the child’s] primary caregivers”; (5) mother “is not legally in the U.S. and her mother lives out of state”; and (6) “[o]ther extraordinary drcumstances as set forth throughout this [o]rder.”

A. Chapter 257C incorporates the presumption in favor of parental custody.

As an initial matter, mother contends that the district court failed to consider whether “extraordinary circumstances” overcame the presumption in favor of parental custody.

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830 N.W.2d 163, 2013 Minn. App. LEXIS 23, 2013 WL 1395623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ramirez-v-luna-minnctapp-2013.