C.E.C. v. C.W.C., 2140815.
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
| Citation | 202 So.3d 338 |
| Docket Number | 2140815. |
| Parties | C.E.C. v. C.W.C. |
| Decision Date | 15 January 2016 |
202 So.3d 338
C.E.C.
v.
C.W.C.
2140815.
Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.
Jan. 15, 2016.
Amy S. Creechof Rhodes & Creech, L.L.C., Huntsville, for appellant.
John R. Campbell, Huntsville, for appellee.
DONALDSON, Judge.
C.E.C. appeals an order entered by the Madison Probate Court ("the probate court") vacating a judgment that had granted C.E.C.'s petition to adopt J.L.R. ("the child"). Because the probate court's order is nonfinal, we dismiss the appeal.
Facts and Procedural History
On April 23, 2008, the child was born to S.R. ("the biological mother") in Tennessee. The identity of the child's biological father is not contained in the record. C.E.C. is the biological mother's sister. On August 29, 2008, the Juvenile Court for Davidson County, Tennessee, entered an order finding the child to be dependent. That order placed the child in the custody of C.E.C. and C.W.C., who were married at that time. The petitioner in that case was the State of Tennessee Department of Child Services ("the Tennessee DCS").
On July 6, 2012, the Madison Circuit Court entered a judgment divorcing C.E.C. and C.W.C. ("the divorce judgment"), which incorporated an agreement of those parties. The divorce judgment ordered C.E.C. and C.W.C. to have joint legal custody of the child, C.E.C. to have sole physical custody, C.W.C. to have visitation, and C.W.C. to pay C.E.C. child support.
On February 18, 2015, C.E.C. filed a petition to adopt the child in the probate court. The adoption petition listed information pertaining to only the State of Alabama Department of Human Resources ("the Alabama DHR") in a paragraph purportedly listing "the names and addresses of all persons known to [C.E.C.] at the time of the filing of this petition from whom consent to this adoption are required by law." Later that day, the probate court entered an interlocutory order placing custody and responsibility for the care, maintenance, and support of the child with C.E.C. The probate court ordered C.E.C. to serve notice of the adoption proceeding as required by § 26–10A–17, Ala.Code 1975.1 C.E.C. sent a notice of the
adoption proceedings only to the Alabama DHR. On April 1, 2015, the probate court entered a judgment granting C.E.C.'s petition to adopt the child.
On April 29, 2015, C.W.C. appeared in the probate-court proceeding and filed a "Motion to Vacate and for Relief from Judgment Pursuant to Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure 59and 60." Seeking to have the judgment vacated, C.W.C. argued in the motion that C.E.C. had failed to provide notification to, and to obtain consents from him, the biological mother, and the Tennessee DCS, as required for a valid adoption of the child. C.W.C. submitted affidavits from the biological mother and himself, in which they both testified that they did not receive notice of the adoption proceeding, did not consent to the adoption of the child, and opposed the adoption. C.E.C. filed a response arguing that C.W.C. lacked "standing" to seek postjudgment relief in the adoption proceeding, that the portion of the divorce judgment providing C.W.C. with...
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