JK ex rel. DK v. MK

• Decision Date: 02 May 2000
• Citation: 5 P.3d 782
• Parties: JK, as next best friend of her minor child and grandchild, DK and Baby X, Appellant (Petitioner), v. MK, DK, and Ellen McGEE, as an individual and in her official capacity, and The Wyoming Children's Society, Appellees (Respondents).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

5 P.3d 782

JK, as next best friend of her minor child and grandchild, DK and Baby X, Appellant (Petitioner), v. MK, DK, and Ellen McGEE, as an individual and in her official capacity, and The Wyoming Children's Society, Appellees (Respondents).

No. C-99-1.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

May 2, 2000.

Representing Petitioners: Joe A. Baca and Sue Davidson of Aspen Ridge Law Offices, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Baca.

Representing Respondents: Gary R. Scott of Hirst & Applegate, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing The State of Wyoming: Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; Michael L. Hubbard, Deputy Attorney General; Harry D. Ivey, Assistant Attorney General; Christopher Petrie, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. Petrie.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and HILL, JJ. GOLDEN, Justice.

After signing a consent to adoption and relinquishment of child custody, the minor natural father (Father) immediately notified Appellee Wyoming Children's Society (WCS) of his intent to revoke his consent. Father's mother, on behalf of her son and the baby (collectively, Petitioners), began judicial proceedings to revoke Father's consent and relinquishment and obtain custody of his newborn son, Baby X. He joined individuals Ellen McGee of WCS, the natural mother (Mother), and natural maternal grandmother (collectively, Respondents) in his suit, but never served the prospective adoptive parents. Months later, after the adoption decree was apparently finalized, the district court granted summary judgment to appellees ruling that, as a matter of law, no statutory grounds existed for revoking Father's consent. Petitioners appeal.

We dismiss those issues requiring joinder of the prospective adoptive parents and affirm the grant of summary judgment on the issue of whether fraud or duress existed requiring Father's consent to be set aside.

ISSUES

Petitioners present these issues for our review:

I. Was Father's consent to adoption given under duress or as a voluntary, knowing waiver, at a time when he was competent to give consent as required by law?

II. Does W.S. § 1-22-109 violate the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions or was it unconstitutionally applied in the facts of this case?

III. Should guardians ad litem be appointed to represent minors in adoption cases?

Respondents present this single statement of the issue:

1. Did the district court err in granting summary judgment to all of the Respondents on all of the claims asserted by the Petitioners in their Amended Petition?

The State of Wyoming filed a brief stating these issues:

I. Whether Appellant was denied procedural due process by operation of Wyo. Stat. § 1-22-109.

II. Whether Appellant was denied substantive due process by operation of Wyo. Stat. § 1-22-109.

III. Whether Wyo. Stat. § 1-22-109 violates the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutional rights to equal protection.

FACTS

Because this appeal is from an order of summary judgment, we review the facts in the light most favorable to Petitioners. In Re HC, 983 P.2d 1205, 1207 (Wyo.1999).

Seventeen-year-old Father suspected that his eighteen-year-old girlfriend (Mother) was pregnant in early February of 1998, and confronted her about it. Mother denied she was pregnant. On the morning of February 23, 1998, Mother picked up Father at his house before school began and asked him to drive her to a hospital in Ft. Collins, Colorado, because she was experiencing stomach pains. He took her to the emergency room in Ft. Collins and doctors informed him that Mother was pregnant and the birth was imminent. Mother delivered a son that afternoon. On the day of the birth, a social worker visited the couple and discussed the possibility of adoption. During that meeting, Father believed that the social worker informed them that if the couple did decide to put the baby up for adoption, they would have up to six months to change their minds and get the baby back. Also on that day, the maternal and paternal grandmothers arrived at the hospital and more discussions concerning adoption were held with the couple. The paternal grandmother contacted Father's aunt in Salt Lake City and asked if she would consider adopting the baby; however, the aunt declined. Late that night, Father drove back to Cheyenne to get clothes for both him and Mother, returned to the hospital, and spent the night in Mother's hospital room.

The next day, Father did not go to school and stayed with Mother. Another social worker arrived and offered free counseling to the Mother and talked to both about adoption. At Mother's request, that social worker contacted a child adoption agency in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Father testified in his deposition that this social worker also informed them they would have a six-month period for changing their minds.

Ellen McGee from the Wyoming Children's Society (WCS) arrived at the hospital about midday of February 24. She brought profiles of adoptive families, a notary, and consent and relinquishment of custody papers for the couple to sign. After speaking to the couple about several of the profiles, Ms. McGee asked if the couple was ready to sign the papers. The couple declined and stated that they needed more time to think about it. The maternal grandmother arrived, and Ms. McGee stated that she would be back in an hour and left. She returned in less than an hour, primarily discussed adoption with the maternal grandmother while the couple listened, but was told that the couple needed more time and more profiles. Ms. McGee offered to place the baby in foster care, and Mother informed her that the baby would be left in the hospital. Mother preferred that the baby stay at the hospital for the full forty-eight hour post-birth time that was routinely recommended for newborns. In her affidavit, the maternal grandmother states that she was assured by the hospital that the baby would not be considered abandoned for this time period. Father left the hospital to go to work, and Mother was discharged and left the hospital with the maternal grandmother and returned home to Cheyenne.

Late in the evening of February 24, Mother, the maternal grandparents, Father, and the paternal grandmother met at Mother's house and further discussed the adoption. Mother and Father told their parents that they needed more time, and it was agreed that more time would be given to them. A few minutes later, Mother's parents had the couple rejoin them for further discussions. Mother stated that she wanted to give the baby up for adoption, and Father stated that he thought adoption would be best. The paternal grandmother apparently indicated that she disagreed with adoption but would not interfere. The maternal grandmother stated that she would contact WCS, and it was agreed that Father would return the next day. Father and his mother left to return home. Father told his mother that he wanted to keep the baby, but that he had told Mother he would support her decision.

Father did not go to school again on February 25, and he returned the next morning to Mother's home without the paternal grandmother. He learned that Ms. McGee was expected and waited with Mother and her parents for Ms. McGee to arrive. He did not contact his mother, and she was not present that morning. Father testified that during the wait, the maternal grandmother and Mother discussed the good choice that had been made, but Father did not participate. Ms. McGee and another woman arrived and, in his affidavit, Father claims that Ms. McGee told Father that if he did not remove the baby from the hospital, the state of Colorado was going to take the baby as an abandoned baby. Ms. McGee read a relinquishment of custody and consent to adoption form to the couple, pointing out variations between the two forms, and then had Father and Mother each sign a form. At some point, the couple selected the adoptive family, who remained nameless. Father could not remember whether it was before or after he signed the consent.

In his deposition, Father testified that he believed that he was releasing and relinquishing his child to foster care to avoid abandonment and was consenting to adoption by the family selected at a later time. He testified that he believed that the actual adoption papers would be signed later. Father was not given a copy of the papers he had signed. At the deposition, Father was asked, "Do you understand what this statement means, `I acknowledge and agree that this relinquishment and consent terminates all rights which I have to this child.'" Father replied, "I'm giving up my rights for the baby from what I understand."

After he signed these papers, Father informed Mother that he believed the baby should not be placed in foster care and given up for adoption. He believed that Mother agreed and was going to arrange to get the baby back. Later, the couple and the maternal grandmother shopped for and purchased baby clothes to take to the adoption agency. Father thought the clothes were purchased for the purpose of keeping the baby and told his mother that they would be picking up the baby that day. On February 27, Father, Mother, and the maternal grandmother delivered the baby clothes to the agency, and the couple held the baby. Mother and Father signed a form that required the adoptive parents to provide pictures of the baby to the birth mother several times a year until age five and then every six months until the age of majority. This form was signed with the first names of Father and Mother and the adoptive parents. The date beside all four names is February 27, apparently the date that the adoptive parents were given physical custody of the baby. At the adoption agency, Father learned that Mother still intended to give the baby up for adoption. He left the agency, contacted his mother and asked her to intervene. Father, his mother, and brother went to the agency and asked Ms. McGee to return the baby to him. Father was told that the baby had already been placed with the...