L.R.J. v. C.F., 2100437.
Decision Date | 15 July 2011 |
Docket Number | 2100437. |
Citation | 75 So.3d 685 |
Parties | L.R.J. v. C.F. |
Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Donna W. Prashad of Prashad Law Firm, LLC, Montgomery, for appellant.
Submitted on appellant's brief only.
L.R.J. (“the mother”) appeals from a judgment of the Montgomery Juvenile Court (“the juvenile court”) to the extent that it awarded C.F. (“the father”) 1 supervised visitation with L.A.F. (“the child”) and ordered both parents to participate in a coparenting class. We dismiss the appeal.
On January 26, 2010, the mother filed a “Dependent Complaint Custody Affidavit and Petition” in the juvenile court, alleging that the child was dependent because “[t]he [child's] parents, guardian, or other custodian, are unable to discharge responsibilities to and for the child.” Specifically, she alleged that “[t]he father is verbally and physically aggressive toward[ ] the mother and places the child in harm's way”; she requested that she be awarded “sole custody” of the child and that any visitation awarded to the father be supervised. Following a hearing on October 18, 2010, the juvenile court entered a “Temporary Order” on November 1, 2010, that stated, among other things:
“THIS CAUSE comes before the Court for a Petition for Custody filed by the Mother....
“....
“a) The Father shall exercise visitation at the Maternal Grandparents home with the Maternal Grandparents and/or the Mother present.
“b) The Father shall coordinate with the Mother for all of his visitation requests prior to his visitation.
(Capitalization in original; bold typeface omitted; emphasis added.) On January 31, 2011, the juvenile court held a final hearing; it entered a judgment that same day, awarding the mother sole legal and physical custody of the child, awarding the father supervised visitation, ordering the father to complete anger-management classes, and ordering both parties to participate in a coparenting class. On February 2, 2011, the mother filed her notice of appeal to this court.
On appeal, the mother argues that the juvenile court exceeded its discretion in awarding the father visitation and in requiring her to participate in a coparenting class with the father. Initially, however, we must determine whether the juvenile court had jurisdiction to enter its January 31, 2011, judgment. “[A] lack of subject-matter jurisdiction is not subject to waiver by the parties, and it is our duty to consider a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction ex mero motu.” Ex parte T.C., 63 So.3d 627, 630 (Ala.Civ.App.2010).
Pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, § 12–15–114(a), juvenile courts have jurisdiction over dependency actions. That Code section provides, however, that a “dependency action shall not include a custody dispute between parents.” In Ex parte T.C., 63 So.3d at 630, this court held that, in enacting that statute, “[t]he clear intent of the Legislature was to provide that the juvenile courts of this state should no longer be deciding custody disputes except insofar as their resolution is directly incidental to core juvenile-court jurisdiction.” “Juvenile courts are purely creatures of statute and have extremely limited jurisdiction. See Ex parte K.L.P., 868 So.2d 454, 456 (Ala.Civ.App.2003). That limited jurisdiction allows a juvenile court to make a disposition of a child in a dependency proceeding only after finding the child dependent. V.W. v. G.W., 990 So.2d 414, 417 (Ala.Civ.App.2008) (quoting K.B. v. Cleburne County Dep't of Human Res., 897 So.2d 379, 389 (Ala.Civ.App.2004) (Murdock, J., concurring in the result)) (‘ “[I]n order to make a disposition of a child in the context of a dependency proceeding, the child must in fact be dependent at the time of that disposition.” ’).”
T.B. v. T.H., 30 So.3d 429, 431 (Ala.Civ.App.2009); see also K.C.G. v. S.J.R., 46 So.3d 499, 501–02 (Ala.Civ.App.2010) () .
In the present case, although the mother alleged in her petition...
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