In re BGP
| Decision Date | 11 July 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 333700, No. 333813,333700 |
| Citation | 906 N.W.2d 228,320 Mich.App. 338 |
| Parties | IN RE BGP, Minor. In re JSP, Minor. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US |
The Law Office of Dion E. Roddy, PLLC (by Dion E. Roddy ), for the adoptive petitioners.
Speaker Law Firm PLLC (by Liisa R. Speaker and Jennifer M. Alberts ) for American Adoptions, Inc.
Amici Curiae: Warner Norcross & Judd LLP (by Jonathon Lauderbach, Conor B. Dugan, and Emily S. Rucker ) for Bethany Christian Services.
Lauran F. Howard for the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.
Williams Williams Rattner & Plunkett, PC (by Donna Marie Medina ), and Conklin Law Firm (by Mary M. Conklin ) for Supporting Members of the State Bar of Michigan Whose Adoption Cases Comprise a Significant Portion of Their Legal Practice.
Bill Schuette, Attorney General, Aaron D. Lindstrom, Solicitor General, Laura Moody, Chief Legal Counsel, and Jonathon S. Ludwig, Assistant Attorney General, for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Before: Saad, P.J., and Meter and Murray, JJ.
In these consolidated cases, nonparty1 American Adoptions, Inc., appeals the circuit court orders that disallowed the payment of administrative and marketing fees by the adoptive parents related to the adoption of two minors in Michigan. For the reasons provided below, we reverse in part and remand.
Both cases arise from the adoption of a minor child under the Michigan Adoption Code, MCL 710.21 et seq.
These cases specifically involve the fees paid by the respective adoptive parents (petitioners) for services ostensibly related to the adoption process. American Adoptions is a not-for-profit adoption agency based in Kansas, petitioners reside outside of Michigan,2 and the adoptee children were born in Michigan.
As required by MCL 710.54(7), the adoptive parents in each case submitted a verified accounting and a supplement to their verified accounting, which detailed the payments made purportedly in connection with their adoption of children born in Michigan. In both cases, petitioners identified American Adoptions as the payee of the administrative fee and American Family Media as the payee of the marketing fee. Petitioners attached, in addition to other documents, a letter from American Adoptions that explained its fees.3 The letters were written by Wade Morris, the Director of Community Resources for American Adoptions, and addressed to petitioners' attorney (same attorney in each case). Presumably, Morris's letters did not refer to any marketing fees because American Family Media—and not American Adoptions—received the marketing fees from petitioners. With respect to the administrative fees, Morris stated the following, in pertinent part:
This fee covers other general overhead expenses relating to various administrative functions of American Adoptions or other Adoption Professionals, including but not limited to the many and various administrative functions that American Adoptions or other Adoption Professionals undertakeprior to an adoption opportunity. This fee is fully refundable if the adoption opportunity is ultimately unsuccessful.[4 ]
Morris explained that American Adoptions' monthly cost for such overhead expenses totaled approximately $267,000.
The circuit court approved all of the requested fees and costs, with the exception of the administrative fees and marketing fees. In Docket No. 333700, the circuit court disallowed the $7,250 administrative fee and the $4,000 marketing fee. In Docket No. 333813, the circuit court rejected the $4,495 administrative fee and the $10,000 marketing fee. The circuit court in both cases did not provide any explanation for its denial of these particular fees.5
American Adoptions argues on appeal that it was denied due process because it was unable to participate in a hearing related to the approval of the fees. We review this unpreserved constitutional issue for plain error affecting substantial rights.6 Demski v. Petlick , 309 Mich.App. 404, 463, 873 N.W.2d 596 (2015).
The United States and Michigan Constitutions provide that "[n]o person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Murphy–DuBay v. Dep't of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs , 311 Mich.App. 539, 558, 876 N.W.2d 598 (2015), citing U.S. Const., Am. V and Am. XIV, § 1 ; Const. 1963, art. 1, § 17. Thus, "[d]ue-process protections are only required when a life, liberty, or property interest is at stake." Id. "To have a protected property interest, one must possess more than a unilateral expectation to the claimed interest; the claimant must have a legitimate claim of entitlement." York v. Civil Serv. Comm. , 263 Mich.App. 694, 702–703, 689 N.W.2d 533 (2004) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Here, there is no doubt that American Adoptions had a property interest in the administrative fees because the adoptive parents were contractually bound to pay these fees to American Adoptions.7
At its core, "[d]ue process requires the opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner." Id. at 702, 689 N.W.2d 533 (quotation marks and citations omitted). Here, American Adoptions cannot show how any plain error affected its substantial rights. First, although American Adoptions may not have been formally invited to participate in the proceedings in the circuit court because it was not a party to the adoption, it nonetheless was able to successfully present its views regarding the administrative fees to the circuit court through the "fee explanation" letters written by Morris. Thus, the court received materials to consider when reviewing petitioners' request to approve the fees, and among those materials was American Adoptions' letters outlining what the administrative fees covered. Importantly, "an oral hearing is not necessary to provide a meaningful opportunity to be heard." English v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mich. , 263 Mich.App. 449, 460,688 N.W.2d 523 (2004).8 Consequently, American Adoptions has failed to prove any plain error by virtue of the fact that no formal hearing was held.
American Adoptions claims that the circuit court erred when it denied the approval of the administrative fees. We review the circuit court's decision for an abuse of discretion. See In re KMN , 309 Mich. App. 274, 294, 870 N.W.2d 75 (2015). And we review issues of statutory interpretation de novo. Auto–Owners Ins. Co. v. Dep't of Treasury , 313 Mich.App. 56, 68–69, 880 N.W.2d 337 (2015).
" MCL 710.54 of the Michigan Adoption Code governs authorized charges and fees in adoption cases." In re MJG , 320 Mich. App. 310, 906 N.W.2d 815 (2017) (Docket No. 332928), slip op. at 4, 2017 WL 2960374. The statute provides as follows:
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