Chatley v. Key (In re Z.K.)

• Decision Date: 07 November 2018
• Docket Number: No. CV-17-962,CV-17-962
• Citation: 565 S.W.3d 524,2018 Ark. App. 533
• Parties: In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF Z.K., a Minor Justin Chatley, Appellant v. Nathan Key and Brandy Key, Appellees
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

2018 Ark. App. 533

565 S.W.3d 524

In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF Z.K., a Minor

Justin Chatley, Appellant

v.Nathan Key and Brandy Key, Appellees

No. CV-17-962

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, DIVISION II.

Opinion Delivered: November 7, 2018

Lisa-Marie Norris, for appellant.

Tina Adcock-Thomas, for appellees.

RITA W. GRUBER, Chief Judge

Justin Chatley appeals from the Benton County Circuit Court's order denying his request to set aside an adoption. The court denied Justin's petition based on its determination that he had failed to provide adequate information to establish that he had standing. On appeal, he contends that there was insufficient evidence to support the denial of his petition and that the adoption violates his right to due process. We hold the circuit court did not err in concluding that Justin lacked standing to challenge the adoption, and we affirm its order denying his petition.

The child adopted in this case, ZK, was born on July 6, 2015, to Dawn and Allen Williams. The Williamses were married when ZK was conceived. On June 26, 2016, almost a year after ZK's birth, Dawn and Allen each signed a relinquishment, termination, and consent to adoption. In Allen's relinquishment, he specifically stated that he and Dawn were married "prior to and during the time of conception" of ZK and that he was ZK's biological father. On June 29, 2016, Brandy and Nathan Key filed a petition to adopt ZK. On August 9, 2016, after a favorable home study had been conducted on the Keys' home, the circuit court entered an order granting the adoption.

Nine months later, on April 3, 2017, Justin filed a petition to vacate the final decree of adoption and a supporting brief claiming that he was ZK's biological father and had maintained a significant custodial, personal, and financial relationship with the child when Dawn and ZK lived with Justin from August 2015 through mid-May 2016. The circuit court did not rule on the petition for four months, allowing Justin a reasonable time to establish standing to proceed in the matter.

On July 24, 2017, Justin filed an additional brief in support of his petition and attached the following documents. He filed an affidavit stating that he and Dawn had an on-and-off relationship from 2014 through sometime in 2016; Dawn told him in December 2014 that she was pregnant with his child; they "broke up" in February 2015; in August 2015, several weeks after ZK's birth, Dawn moved in with Justin and he provided financial support; Justin performed a "home paternity test" on ZK in March 2016; at some point thereafter, he claims that he unsuccessfully attempted to register with the Arkansas Putative Father Registry; and in June 2016, Justin hired an Oklahoma lawyer for "visitation and custody." He attached the results from the home paternity test purporting to indicate that he was the father of ZK. He attached a "Petition for Judicial Order Determining Paternity, Custody and Visitation" that had been filed in Oklahoma on September 20, 2016. He also attached an affidavit from his Oklahoma attorney, stating that Justin had diligently attempted to provide service information for Dawn but was unable to discover Dawn's whereabouts in Texas until August 2016, at which point Dawn was served with Justin's Oklahoma petition for paternity. The attorney also stated that Justin did not discover that ZK had been adopted until Dawn filed an answer in the paternity lawsuit so stating. Finally, Justin filed the affidavit of his parents, confirming that Justin and Dawn had a relationship and that Dawn and ZK had lived with Justin for a period of nine months. Justin did not produce any evidence that he had registered with the Arkansas Putative Father Registry or any other putative-father registry, filed a petition for paternity in any Arkansas court, or obtained an order from any court establishing his rights as the father of ZK.

On July 31, 2017, the circuit court denied Justin's petition to vacate, finding that he had failed to establish standing to proceed, providing specifically:

1. The Final Decree of Adoption was filed in this matter on August [9], 2016.

2. The Court allowed a period of time for the Petitioner to provide the Court with adequate proof of his good faith efforts to register as a putative father and to provide adequate information to establish standing to proceed.

3. The Court has reviewed all information provided by the Petitioner and has determined that it is not adequate to establish standing nor is it adequate for the Court to find a reasonable basis to allow Petitioner to proceed.

We are reviewing the circuit court's finding that Justin did not have standing to pursue his petition. Only a person who has a personal stake in the outcome of a controversy has standing. Pulaski Cty. v. Ark. Democrat-Gazette, Inc. , 371 Ark. 217, 220, 264 S.W.3d 465, 467 (2007). The question of standing is a matter of law for this court to decide, and the appellate courts review questions of law de novo. Hinton v. Bethany Christian Servs. , 2015 Ark. App. 301, at 3, 462 S.W.3d 361, 362. In making a determination regarding standing, we must interpret several statutes. We review issues of statutory construction de novo, as it is for this court to decide what a statute means. DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Smelser , 375 Ark. 216, 289 S.W.3d 466 (2008). In this regard, we are not bound by the circuit court's decision; however, in the absence of a showing that the circuit court erred, its interpretation will be accepted as correct on appeal. Id. With these standards in mind, we turn to the arguments presented on appeal.

I. Statutory Law

We find it helpful to first set forth the relevant Arkansas statutes. Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-9-206 provides in pertinent part as follows:

(a) Unless consent is not required under § 9-9-207, a petition to adopt a minor may be granted only if written consent to a particular adoption has been executed by:

(1) The mother of the minor;

(2) The father of the minor if:

(A) The father was married to the mother at the time the minor was conceived or at any time thereafter;

(B) The minor is his child by adoption;

(C) He has physical custody of the minor at the time the petition is filed;

(D) He has a written order granting him legal custody of the minor at the time the petition for adoption is filed;

(E) A court has adjudicated him to be the legal father prior to the time the petition for adoption is filed;

(F) He proves a significant custodial, personal, or financial relationship existed with the minor before the petition for adoption is filed ; or

(G) He has acknowledged paternity under § 9-10-120(a);

Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-206(a)(1), (2) (Repl. 2015) (emphasis added).

Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-9-207 provides:

(a) Consent to adoption is not required of:

(1) a parent who has deserted a child without affording means of identification or who has abandoned a child;

(2) a parent of a child in the custody of another, if the parent for a period of at least one (1) year has failed significantly without justifiable cause (i) to communicate with the child or (ii) to provide for the care and support of the child as required by law or judicial decree;

(3) the father of a minor if the father's consent is not required by § 9-9-206(a)(2) ;

(4) a parent who has relinquished his or her right to consent under § 9-9-220;(5) a parent whose parental rights have been terminated by order of court under § 9-9-220 or § 9-27-341;

(6) a parent judicially declared incompetent or mentally defective if the court dispenses with the parent's consent;

(7) any parent of the individual to be adopted, if the individual is an adult;

(8) any legal guardian or lawful custodian of the individual to be adopted, other than a parent, who has failed to respond in writing to a request for consent for a period of sixty (60) days or who, after examination of his or her written reasons for withholding consent, is found by the court to be withholding his or her consent unreasonably;

(9) the spouse of the individual to be adopted, if the failure of the spouse to consent to the adoption is excused by the court by reason of prolonged unexplained absence, unavailability, incapacity, or circumstances constituting an unreasonable withholding of consent;

(10) a putative father of a minor who signed an acknowledgement of paternity but who failed to establish a significant custodial, personal, or financial relationship with the juvenile prior to the time the petition for adoption is filed; or

(11) a putative father of a minor who is listed on the Putative Father Registry but who failed to establish a significant custodial, personal, or financial relationship with the juvenile prior to the time the petition for adoption is filed.

(b) Except as provided in §§ 9-9-212 and 9-9-224, notice of a hearing on a petition for adoption need not be given to a person whose consent is not required or to a person whose consent or relinquishment has been filed with the petition.

Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-207.

II. Standing

The issue before us is whether Justin has standing to pursue his petition to vacate the adoption. In other words, was he a person entitled to notice or whose consent was required before the circuit court could enter an adoption decree regarding ZK? He did not register with the Arkansas Putative Father Registry or sign an acknowledgement of paternity, both of which would have triggered the notice provisions of Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-212(a)(4)(C). He argues, however, that his consent was required, and thus that he was entitled to notice pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-206(a)(2)(F) as a "father" who had proven "a significant custodial, personal, or financial relationship existed" with ZK before the adoption petition was filed. We express no opinion regarding the significance of the relationship between Justin and ZK and assume for purposes of this appeal that he has established, or could establish, that a significant relationship existed. We hold, however, that Justin has not...