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Finding a grandfather lacked standing to seek grandparent visitation, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has reversed the grant of visitation rights to the grandfather in an adoption case.
The case centers on K.F., who was born in 2016. In 2018, the parental rights of mother B.R. and father T.F. were terminated due to substance abuse issues, resulting in K.F. becoming a ward of the state through child in need of services proceedings.
The Indiana Department of Child Services placed K.F. in relative care with H.P. and S.P during the week and with grandfather G.F. on weekends.
After the parents’ rights had been terminated, the Hendricks Superior Court ordered a plan of adoption, prompting H.P. and S.P. to begin taking steps to adopt the child with the consent of DCS. The adoption was granted in May 2019 without any notice to the grandfather.
A few months later, S.P. told G.F. that the adoption had been finalized. The adoptive parents continued to voluntarily give the grandfather weekend visitations with the child.
The child’s biological parents died a few years after the adoption — the father in July 2021 and the mother in January 2022. Around the same time, the adoptive parents ended visits with the grandfather, although for reasons unrelated to the biological parents’ deaths.
In April 2022, the grandfather filed a motion to reopen the adoption and intervene. He argued that he had a right to pursue grandparent visitation because he was not provided with proper notice of the adoption.
The trial court granted the grandfather’s motion to intervene. He then filed a motion for grandparent visitation, which the adoptive parents opposed on the merits as well as on the basis that reopening the adoption proceedings almost three years later was improper.
After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court issued its order awarding visitation to the grandfather on alternating weekends from Friday after school until Monday morning, or 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. when school isn’t in session.
The adoptive parents appealed and their request for a stay of the visitation order was granted by the appellate court. The stay remained in effect following the denial of the grandfather’s motion to reconsider.
While the adoptive parents presented the appellate court with several issues, the court only addressed one: whether the grandfather had standing to seek grandparent visitation rights at the time he filed his petition.
The appellate court found he did not have standing.
“In sum, we hold that Grandfather no longer has standing to seek grandparent visitation and that his attempt to regain standing by attacking the adoption decree is fruitless given the applicable statute of limitations,” Chief Judge Robert Altice wrote. “Accordingly, the trial court erred by addressing the merits of Grandfather’s claim for grandparent visitation under the Act. It may very well be that continued contact with Grandfather is in Child’s best interests, but at this point, such a determination must be left to her parents, not the court.”
This case is H.P. and S.P. v. G.F., 22A-AD-2674.
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