Howell v. Rogers
| Citation | 551 So.2d 904 |
| Decision Date | 18 October 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-58775,07-58775 |
| Parties | Morris Devon HOWELL and Helen A. Howell v. Deborah Ann ROGERS and Timothy S. Rogers. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
William N. Patterson, Sharon Patterson Thibodeaux, Patterson & Thibodeaux, Jackson, for appellant.
Steve Chance, Marble & Chance, Jackson, for appellee.
Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and PITTMAN and BLASS, JJ.
BLASS, Justice, for the Court:
This decision addresses an appeal from a judgment entered in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, which dismissed the appellants' complaint seeking grandparents' visitation rights.
The Grandparents' Visitation Rights Statutes, appearing in Mississippi Code Annotated Secs. 93-16-1 through 93-16-7 (Supp.1988) (approved April 1, 1986), must be examined to determine whether or not the grandparents have standing to seek visitation in this case. The central issue to be resolved is whether the adoption of a child by the spouse of one of its natural parents terminates the rights of its grandparents on the side of the other natural parent.
I.
FACTS
The appellants, Helen A. Howell and Morris Devon Howell, are the paternal grandmother and step-grandfather of Chance Fielding Rogers. The natural parents of Chance Rogers were divorced on May 13, 1983, and custody of Chance was awarded to his natural mother. The natural mother and step-father adopted Chance, and subsequent to the adoption, the natural father died in December of 1986.
On May 28, 1987, the paternal grandparents filed their complaint for visitation, and the trial was held on October 12, 1987. The chancery court ruled that under the Grandparents' Visitation Rights Statutes, Sec. 93-16-1, et seq. (1972), the grandparents had no standing to seek visitation with the child. The chancery court reached its decision under authority of Olson v. Flinn, 484 So.2d 1015 (Miss.1986). The Court reasoned that Olson required dismissal in that grandparent visitation could not be ordered in such case, but rather such visitation should be voluntary.
II.
DOES THE ADOPTION OF A CHILD TERMINATE THE GRANDPARENTS' LEGAL RIGHTS TO VISITATION UNDER Sec. 93-16-3?
The case of Olson v. Flinn, 484 So.2d at 1017, held that an adoption by a step-parent after the death of one of the natural parents operated to terminate visitation rights of the natural grandparents except as to the natural parent who is the spouse of the adopting parents. In so holding, the Olson Court relied upon Miss.Code Ann. Secs. 93-16-3 and 93-16-7 (Supp.1985). Olson, 484 So.2d at 1017.
The Court in Olson was of the opinion that the legislature, by enacting Sec. 93-16-7, Miss.Code Ann. (Supp.1985), decided that the best interests of the child lay in the termination of the natural grandparents' visitation rights upon adoption. The Court recognized the harshness of its holding, which was dictated by the statute, and encouraged visitation on a voluntary basis. Id.
In response to Olson, the legislature amended Sec. 93-16-3 to provide:
Whenever a court of this state enters a decree or order awarding custody of a minor child to one (1) of the parents of the child, or terminating the parental rights of one (1) of the parents of the minor child, or whenever one (1) of the parents of a minor child dies, either parent of the child's parent who was not awarded custody, or whose parental rights have been terminated or who has died, may petition the court in which the decree or order was rendered or, in the case of the death of a parent, petition the chancery court in the county in which...
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Jackson v. Tangreen
...see also In re Marriage of Aragon, 764 P.2d 419 (Colo.Ct.App.1988); In re Groleau, 585 N.E.2d 726 (Ind.Ct.App.1992); Howell v. Rogers, 551 So.2d 904 (Miss.1989); Rigler v. Treen, 442 Pa.Super. 533, 660 A.2d 111 (1995). Accordingly, the legislature could have rationally concluded that grandp......
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...adoption proceedings as well as proceedings limited purely to terminating parental rights, and this Court has so held in Howell v. Rogers, 551 So.2d 904 (Miss.1989). Unfortunately for the Hills, they are nevertheless excluded because neither of the "legal," adoptive parents is a natural par......
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...spouse of the adopting parent." Id. at 1018. ¶ 10. The question presented in Olson was again considered by this Court in Howell v. Rogers, 551 So.2d 904 (Miss. 1989). In Howell, we noted that in response to Olson, the Legislature amended § 93-16-3, and consequently, we held that an adoption......
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...This chapter shall apply to persons who become grandparents of a child by virtue of adoption. Our recent decision of Howell v. Rogers, 551 So.2d 904 (Miss.1989), did involve an application of the amended Grandparents Visitation Statutes. However, in that case, the natural mother and father ......