STATE ex rel. the Adoption of J.N. v. State

2000 UT App 73, 997 P.2d 345, 391 Utah Adv. Rep. 10, 2000 Utah App. LEXIS 26, 2000 WL 284016
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedMarch 16, 2000
DocketNo. 990180-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2000 UT App 73 (STATE ex rel. the Adoption of J.N. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STATE ex rel. the Adoption of J.N. v. State, 2000 UT App 73, 997 P.2d 345, 391 Utah Adv. Rep. 10, 2000 Utah App. LEXIS 26, 2000 WL 284016 (Utah Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

BENCH, Judge:

¶ 1 J.N. and R.N. (appellants) appeal the juvenile court’s denial of their motion for relief and intervention, seeking to set aside the adoption of their niece and nephew, J.N. and J.N. (the children) to nonrelatives. We remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In November 1996, the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) was awarded temporary custody of the children because the mother was unable to provide proper care. The juvenile court subsequently adjudicated the children as “neglected,” affirmed the previous award of temporary custody to DCFS, and ordered DCFS to provide reunification services for the mother and children.

¶ 3 DCFS offered services over the next ten months, but the mother failed to sufficiently comply with the plan. DCFS then moved to terminate services and change the permanency goal to adoption. In response, the mother filed a motion to transfer custody of the children to appellants — her brother and sister-in-law, who then lived in Missouri. On August 25, 1997, the juvenile court terminated reunification services and changed the permanency goal to adoption. As for the mother’s preference that the children be placed with appellants, the juvenile court indicated that DCFS would make that decision, and that family may receive some preference.

¶ 4 DCFS petitioned to terminate the mother’s parental rights. On October 20, 1997, a pretrial hearing was held on that petition, and appellants, having just arrived from Missouri, expressed interest in adoption. The court indicated that because the permanency goal had already been changed to adoption, appellants would need to apply to be adoptive parents and have a kinship study for home placement completed.

¶ 5 On December 9, 1997, the juvenile court held a hearing to consider the mother’s motion to transfer custody. Appellants, through counsel, claimed that they had filed a petition to adopt and asked the juvenile [347]*347court to place the children with them.1 The juvenile court denied the mother’s motion to transfer custody and continued the order of custody and guardianship in DCFS. The juvenile court then determined that appellants “have met the burden and shall receive preferential treatment with regard to adoption,” but that they would also be “responsible for completing the process for being considered as an adoptive placement prior to [screening].” The court directed that the screening and recommendation for the children’s placement occur before the tidal on DCFS’s termination petition.

¶ 6 At the trial on January 7, 1998, the juvenile court terminated the mother’s parental rights. DCFS then recommended that the children be placed with another family, and appellants complained that they did not receive a preference. The juvenile court explained that a preference does not guarantee placement, but then stayed its order moving the children to their adoptive home for ten days to allow appellants, or any other interested party, to seek review or otherwise challenge the order.

¶ 7 The ten days passed, and nothing was filed with the court. On January 21, 1998, the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) moved to place the children in their adoptive home. The juvenile court granted the motion and the children were placed two days later. The adoptive parents signed an adoption agreement on February 2, 1998.

¶ 8 Thereafter, DCFS proposed to remove the children from their adoptive home, reasoning that the children were moved prematurely and that the interests of the children would best be served in the relatives’ home. In response, the GAL filed a Motion and Order for Request for Temporary Injunction and Request for Special Expedited Review Hearing, to block the proposed removal. The juvenile court granted the injunction and set the matter for an expedited hearing on February 12, 1998. At that hearing, the juvenile court found, based on the proffered testimony and evidence, that moving the children from their current adoptive placement would be contrary to their best interests.

¶ 9 Appellants then filed a motion seeking access to the children’s juvenile court file. After a hearing on the motion, the juvenile court found that appellants were not parties to any of the proceedings before the mother’s parental rights were terminated, but “may be considered a ‘party’ as a private petitioner for adoption.” As such, the juvenile court allowed appellants access to all documents after the mother’s parental rights were terminated. The juvenile court also ordered the State to “give [appellants] notice of any adoption petition being filed in this case.”

¶ 10 Appellants later moved for relief from the order of the February 12, 1998 hearing on the grounds that (1) it was in the children’s best interests to be placed with them, (2) they were not given notice of the February 12th hearing, and (3) the GAL had a conflict of interest because he had represented the biological father of one of the children at a hearing in which the father’s parental rights were terminated.

¶ 11 On September 10, 1998, appellants received from the adoptive parents a redacted copy of a verified petition for adoption that had been filed on the adoptive parents’ behalf. Various terms in the petition, including the filing date, had been blackened out. Appellants were not given any notice of where and when the final adoption hearing would take place. On September 16, 1998, appellants filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the adoption. The juvenile court denied the motion as moot because the court had finalized the adoption at a hearing held on September 14, 1998.

¶ 12 Appellants thereafter sought relief from the final decree of adoption by moving to intervene as interested parties. Following a hearing, the juvenile court denied the motion to intervene, and all other previously filed and unadjudieated motions, finding: (1) it was not in the children’s best interests to be removed from their adoptive home; (2) appellants had no legal basis to intervene or set aside the adoption; (3) appellants re[348]*348ceived reasonable notice of all proceedings; and (4) appellants’ due process rights were not violated. This appeal followed.

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 13 We must determine whether the juvenile court afforded appellants procedural due process in their attempt to adopt the children. “Constitutional issues, including that of due process, are questions of law which we review for correctness.” In re KM., 965 P.2d 576, 578 (Utah Ct.App.1998).

ANALYSIS

I. Due Process

¶ 14 Appellants first argue that their procedural due process rights were violated because they

were not provided notice of the proceedings, including, but not limited to, the filing of pleadings with the Court; notice of administrative and judicial hearings; the right to be present at hearings; the opportunity to be heard; and the right to present evidence relative to the best interest of the minor children.

¶ 15 Utah’s adoption statute entitles certain persons to notice of adoption proceedings. See Utah Code Ann. § 78-30-4.13 (Supp.1999) (listing parties entitled to receive thirty days notice of adoption proceedings);

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In re C.C. and K.H. (S.C. v. State)
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Rawlings v. Rawlings
2008 UT App 478 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
2000 UT App 73, 997 P.2d 345, 391 Utah Adv. Rep. 10, 2000 Utah App. LEXIS 26, 2000 WL 284016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-the-adoption-of-jn-v-state-utahctapp-2000.