Black v. Black, WD
| Decision Date | 18 February 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. WD,WD |
| Citation | 824 S.W.2d 514 |
| Parties | In the Matter of Joshua Adam BLACK, a Minor, Sondra J. Estle, Appellant, v. Lori BLACK, Respondent. 44793. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
William L. Hubbard, Justine E. Del Muro, The Popham Law Firm, Kansas City, for appellant.
William Michael Quitmeier, Kansas City, for respondent.
Before TURNAGE, P.J., and KENNEDY and BERREY, JJ.
Sondra Estle filed an application to be appointed the guardian of her grandson, Joshua Black. The court denied the petition and Estle contends that the court erred in holding that she was required to allege that the mother had been previously adjudged unfit to serve as guardian. Affirmed.
The application for guardian alleged that Joshua was born April 11, 1989, and required the appointment of a guardian of the person because the parents are unfit. Filed concurrently with the application for appointment of guardian was a petition for temporary custody which alleged that the mother of Joshua had neglected to properly care for him and requested that temporary custody be granted to Estle. There was no allegation in the application for guardianship or in the petition for temporary custody touching the qualification of the mother to act as guardian.
Estle is the maternal grandmother of Joshua and lives in Jacksonville, Florida. She alleged that she had made application to the courts in Florida to be appointed guardian of Joshua but that that application had been denied because the court found that Missouri had jurisdiction of Joshua.
There was no evidence presented in support of the application or petition for temporary custody but only arguments of counsel. However, the parties do not dispute the facts and argue only a question of law. Section 475.030.4(2), RSMo 1986, provides that letters of guardianship of the person of a minor may be granted when the parents, or the sole surviving parent of a minor is unwilling, unable, or adjudged unfit to assume the duties of guardianship. The court took the position that the application did not properly allege the unfitness of the mother of Joshua to serve as guardian.
Estle contends that it was not necessary to allege in the application that the mother had previously been adjudged unfit to serve as guardian but that her unfitness could be established in the hearing on the application for guardianship. Estle has failed to recognize the distinction between alleged unfitness to have custody of Joshua and unfitness to serve as a guardian. The only allegation in the application for guardianship was that the mother is unfit. Although the form for appointment of guardian which the grandmother used contains the statutory words "the parents are deceased or unfit or unwilling or unable to assume duties of guardianship," everything was stricken except "the parents are unfit." Thus, the application made no allegation that the mother was unfit to serve as guardian. The petition for temporary custody likewise made no allegation of...
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K.R. v. A.L.S. (In re A.L.R.)
...than a parent may only be appointed to have the care and custody of the person of a minor as authorized by statute. Black v. Black, 824 S.W.2d 514, 515 (Mo. App. W.D. 1992) (holding that "'[t]he power to appoint guardians is purely statutory'" (quoting In re Dugan, 309 S.W.2d 145, 148-49 (M......
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Reece v. Reece, WD
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