Lockey v. Bennett, s. 35018
| Decision Date | 26 September 1979 |
| Docket Number | 35019,Nos. 35018,s. 35018 |
| Citation | 244 Ga. 339,260 S.E.2d 56 |
| Parties | LOCKEY v. BENNETT et al. LOCKEY et al. v. BENNETT et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
R. Hopkins Kidd, Decatur, for appellants.
T. Henry Clarke, IV, Decatur, for appellees.
These two appeals challenge the validity of an adoption of a ten month old girl by her paternal grandparents. The appellants are her maternal grandparents.
Before the child was born, the natural parents, both being very young, had considered the possibility of the paternal grandparents adopting her. Instead, they tried to care for the child which resulted in her becoming very ill. The DeKalb County Juvenile Court then placed the child in the temporary custody of the maternal grandparents. At that point, the paternal grandparents obtained the consent to adoption from both natural parents and filed this action to adopt the child in the Gwinnett County Superior Court. The maternal grandparents sought to object to the adoption proceedings through a motion to intervene which was denied. A guardian ad litem was appointed, and the maternal grandparents were allowed to question witnesses and participate in the hearing through him. After considering the testimony and evidence, the trial judge issued an order granting the paternal grandparents' petition for adoption. Upon refusal of appellants to surrender possession of the child, appellees brought a petition for habeas corpus which was granted.
In Case number 35018, the maternal grandparents appeal the denial of their motion to intervene. In Case number 35019, they appeal as to the merits of the adoption proceeding. Held :
1. Code Ann. § 81A-124(a)(2) provides that a party may intervene as a matter of right when an interest in the subject matter of the action will be impaired absent his or her participation, "unless the applicant's interest is adequately represented by existing parties." The trial judge ruled that the maternal grandparents had no interest in the adoption because the natural parents, both still living, had consented and cited the cases of Hiott v. Duncan, 122 Ga.App. 563, 178 S.E.2d 43 (1970), and Hester v. Mathis, 147 Ga.App. 257, 248 S.E.2d 538 (1978), as supporting authority. Those cases hold, both construing Code Ann. § 74-411 (formerly Code Ann. § 74-412), that relatives of a child may not file objections to its adoption as long as one natural parent is living and has consented. This removes...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bishop v. Patton
...not even attempted to explain why they might have third-party standing to press arguments on Marshall's behalf. See Lockey v. Bennett, 244 Ga. 339, 340, 260 S.E.2d 56 (1979) (“ ‘Only parties to the proceeding below may be parties on appeal.’ ” (citation omitted)); Feminist Women's Health Ce......
-
Parker v. Stone, A15A1223.
...prescribed by [the Appellate Practice Act].”).5 Contrary to the Stones' contention, this case is not controlled by Lockey v. Bennett, 244 Ga. 339, 260 S.E.2d 56 (1979). In that case, the Supreme Court of Georgia decided in one appeal that the appellants had no statutory right to file object......
-
Houston v. Houston, s. 60698
...seek visitation in an adoption proceeding where the only living parent, the mother, had consented to the adoption. See Lockey v. Bennett, 244 Ga. 339, 260 S.E.2d 56 (1979). Mead v. Owens, 149 Ga.App. 303, 254 S.E.2d 431 (1979); Hester v. Mathis, 147 Ga.App. 257, 248 S.E.2d 538 Code Ann. § 7......
-
Smith v. Hutcheson
...under OCGA § 19-8-15, blood relatives may object to an adoption only when the legal parents are not living. Lockey v. Bennett, 244 Ga. 339, 340(1), 260 S.E.2d 56 (1979); Kelly v. Silverstein, 207 Ga.App. 381, 382, 427 S.E.2d 851 (1993); Murphy v. McCarthy, 201 Ga. App. 101, 102, 410 S.E.2d ......