Hofmeister v. Bauer

• Decision Date: 30 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 15584,15584
• Citation: 719 P.2d 1220,110 Idaho 960
• Parties: Frederick G. and Lydia HOFMEISTER, Petitioners-Respondents, v. Wanda BAUER, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 1220

719 P.2d 1220

110 Idaho 960

Frederick G. and Lydia HOFMEISTER, Petitioners-Respondents, v. Wanda BAUER, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 15584.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

May 30, 1986.

Christine Burdick (argued), (Hopkins, French, Crockett, Springer & Hoopes), and Craig W. Simpson (Simpson, Gardner & Gauchay), Idaho Falls, for respondent-appellant.

Thomas W. Clark (Clark & Clark), Pocatello, for petitioners-respondents.

BURNETT, Judge.

This appeal presents three issues concerning the termination of a parent-child relationship. First, we are asked to decide whether the law prohibits termination unless it would serve the best interests of both the parent and the child. Second, we are invited to reexamine the standard for appellate review of a finding that grounds for termination exist. Finally, we must determine whether the evidence in this case was sufficient to support a termination decree.

The children in this case are three girls, the oldest born on September 28, 1974. The other girls are twins born on October 24, 1976. They reside with their paternal aunt, Lydia (Chacon) Hofmeister, and her husband, Frederick Hofmeister. In August, 1983, when the children were eight and six years old, respectively, the Hofmeisters filed a petition to terminate the natural parents' rights and to adopt the children. The natural parents, who were divorced, responded separately to the petition. The father, Thane Chacon, signed a written consent to the proposed termination and adoption. However, the natural mother, Wanda (Chacon) Bauer, resisted the petition.

After a lengthy trial, the magistrate found that the natural mother had neglected the children within the meaning of I.C. § 16-2005(b). The magistrate entered a decree terminating the rights of both natural parents and he appointed the Hofmeisters as guardians, apparently deferring the question of adoption while the mother appealed the termination decree. The district court upheld the decree and the matter is now before us on the mother's second appeal. For reasons explained below, we affirm.

I

Both the magistrate and the district judge stated in their memorandum opinions that the children had been neglected and that termination would serve the best interests of the mother as well as the children. The mother now argues that the record fails to show how the loss of three children would benefit her. The Hofmeisters respond that the mother possesses a limited capacity to raise children; that she will retain custody of a fourth child--a boy born to a subsequent marriage--who is not a subject of these proceedings; and that she will be better off coping with the lesser demands of a single child. The courts below presumably adopted the Hofmeisters' view.

The notion that involuntary termination benefits the parent causes us some disquietude. Parenthood confers long-term benefits of comfort and support that ordinarily outweigh the immediate demands of child-rearing. Even a parent of limited capability may be aggrieved by the loss of these potential benefits. We cannot indulge in a facile assumption that a mother who neglects her children is better off without them.

But the underlying question is whether it is truly necessary that termination serve the parent's best interests. The Idaho termination statutes impose no such broad requirement. Idaho Code § 16-2005 authorizes termination, over a parent's objection, in any of five circumstances: (a) abandonment, (b) neglect or abuse, (c) lack of a biological relationship between the child and a presumptive parent, (d) mental incapacity of the parent, or (e) situations where "termination is found to be in the best interest of the parent and child." Category (e), a repository for unspecified parent-child problems, is distinct from the more specific categories that precede it. Category (e) stands alone in mandating that the parent's best interests be served by termination. The other categories, predicated upon particular conduct or status of the parent, do not impose this requirement. The categories are independent. Any of them is a sufficient ground for termination. Accordingly, we hold that termination for parental neglect under category (b) is not contingent upon a showing that the parent somehow will benefit. ¹

How, then, did the parties and the lower court judges in this case derive an impression that the mother's best interests were to be considered even though neglect had been found? The answer may lie in State ex rel. Child v. Clouse, 93 Idaho 893, 477 P.2d 834 (1970). There our Supreme Court upheld a decree terminating the relationship between a mother and four of her six living children. At several junctures in its opinion the Supreme Court referred to the best interests of parents. Our attention is drawn especially to the following passage: "[S]everance of the parent-child relationship should be avoided unless it is the only alternative found consistent with the best interests of the children and the parents." Id. at 895, 477 P.2d at 836 (emphasis added).

The emphasized language must be read in the context of the Supreme Court's entire opinion. In Clouse termination was sought and granted under I.C. § 16-2005(e) --the residual category. althOugh mental impairment under category (d) initially had been alleged in the termination petition, that allegation eventually was withdrawn. The Supreme Court noted:

[The mother's rights] may be forfeited and lost, and her relationship with her children as a parent terminated [,] where the children are abandoned, neglected, abused, or the court finds that the best interest of the parent and child requires the termination of the relationship. I.C. § 16-2005. In the case at bar the court terminated the parent-child relationship on the latter grounds.

Id. at 896, 477 P.2d at 837 (emphasis added).

We think the Clouse opinion, taken as a whole, correctly reflects the structure of I.C. § 16-2005. The Supreme Court's references to the best interests of parents are appropriate to a case governed by category (e). They do not impose a restrictive judicial gloss upon all other categories in I.C. § 16-2005. This interpretation is consistent with the Supreme Court's recent observation, in Rhodes v. State, Department of Health and Welfare, 107 Idaho 1120, 695 P.2d 1259 (1985), that a parent-child relationship may be terminated upon a finding "that the parent has neglected or abused the child or that termination is found to be in the best interest of the parent and child." Id. at 1120, 695 P.2d at 1259 (emphasis added).

We conclude in the present case that it was unnecessary for the lower court judges to determine whether the mother's best interests would be served by termination. The mother's attack upon that decision furnishes no basis to disturb the termination decree.

II

Consequently, our focus is narrowed to the magistrate's finding, upheld by the district court, that the mother had neglected her children. Idaho Code § 16-2009 provides that findings on the grounds for termination must be made upon "clear and convincing" evidence. In this respect, the statute conforms to the constitutional requisite of substantive due process. In Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982), the United States Supreme Court described the "care, custody and management" of children as a "fundamental liberty interest" of the natural parents. Id. at 753, 102 S.Ct. at 1394; see also Lassiter v. Department of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 101 S.Ct. 2153, 68 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981). The Santosky Court held that this interest could be extinguished only by proving parental unfitness with clear and convincing evidence rather than with a mere preponderance of the evidence. The Court vacated a termination decree and remanded for further proceedings because the decree had been entered upon the less demanding evidentiary standard.

The instant case differs from Santosky in two respects. First, the trial judge in this case applied the standard of clear and convincing evidence, finding that it had been satisfied. Second, termination in this case was sought by private parties--the children's paternal aunt and uncle--rather than by a government agency. Accordingly, the questions before us are what standard of appellate review should be applied to a finding of parental neglect, and whether that standard is affected by the private or public nature of the party seeking termination.

Taking the second question first, we believe the standard does not depend upon the identity of the petitioner. A standard of proof reflects the weight ascribed to competing interests, and it embodies a societal judgment about how the risk of fact-finding error should be allocated. We acknowledge that Santosky refers to "government-initiated proceedings" and to the "array of public resources" a government agency can muster "to prove its case...." 455 U.S. at 756, 760, 102 S.Ct. at 1396, 1398. However, we think the dominant reason for insisting upon clear and convincing evidence is the fundamental importance accorded to the parents' liberty interest in child-rearing. That interest remains the same regardless of the identity of the party seeking to terminate it. We see no reason why the parental interest should receive less protection from the risk of fact-finding error in a "private" termination case than in a "public" case. Accord, Thompson v. Thompson, 110 Idaho 93, 714 P.2d 62 (Ct.App.1986).

The other question--what review standard should be employed on appeal--has been answered in earlier decisions. In Rhodes v. State, Department of Health and Welfare, supra, the Idaho Supreme Court applied the common standard of clear error under I.R.C.P. 52(a). The Court held that if a magistrate has found neglect upon what he considers clear and convincing evidence, and if the evidence indeed is substantial, his finding will not be deemed clearly erroneous. We announced similar holdings in Thompson v. Thompson, supra, and...