Vinson v. Rector, 19417
| Decision Date | 03 June 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 19417,19417 |
| Parties | Elizabeth Joan King VINSON, Appellant, v. Valorous C. RECTOR and Lillian M. Rector, Appellees. In the Matter of the Petition for ADOPTION OF Renee Denise KING, Valorous C. Rector and Lillian M. Rector, Petitioners. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Davis & Williams, Greenfield, for appellant.
DeArmond, Booram & DeArmond, Anderson, Lawrence Booram, Anderson, of counsel, for appellees.
This is a proceeding by appellees to adopt as their child and heir at law Renee Denise King, a minor child. Appellant, Elizabeth Joan King Vinson, petitioned to intervene, stating that she was the natural mother of the child, which petition was granted by the court. She filed an answer, asking that the petition for adoption be denied on the basis that she had not consented to the adoption. The issues being thus joined, the cause was submitted for trial and evidence was heard without the intervention of a jury.
On September 9, 1959, the court made certain findings that the minor child should be adopted by appellees, but that prior to any final decree of adoption she should live for a longer probationary period in the home of the petitioners. The court entered a decree, which reads as follows:
'It is therefore considered, ordered, adjudged and decreed by the court, that it is in the best interest of the minor child, Renee Denise King, that she be adopted, but that she should live in the home of the petitioners herein an additional period prior to a final order of adoption; and that this proceedings be, and it hereby is, continued on the docket of this Court until such time a hearing is had on such final decree of adoption.
'It is further ordered and decreed that the minor ward, Renee Denise King, shall forthwith be delivered by Ada Louise Wilson, living at 392 North Virginia Lee Road East, Columbus, Ohio, to the petitioners herein Valorous C. Rector and Lillian M. Rector, and the said Valorous C. Rector and Lillian M. Rector, be, and they hereby are, given the care, custody and control of said minor child pending a final order in this cause.
'And this cause is now continued for further proceedings as may be necessary in the premises, and for final order and decree herein.
'And the cause having been under advisement by the Court since the conclusion of the trial, the Court now makes its findings and decree herein this 9th day of September, 1959.'
On the 24th day of September, 1959, appellant filed her motion for new trial, which motion was overruled by the court on September 25, 1959. On December 1, 1959, appellant filed her transcript and assignment of errors in this court. On March 31, 1960, appellant filed her brief in this cause. On April 21, 1960, appellees filed their motion to dismiss on the ground, among others, that there is no appealable final decree before this court.
Appeals can only be taken from final judgments. Burns' Ind.Stat., § 2-3201. It has been stated many times by this court that an appealable final judgment determines all the rights of the parties to the suit, or a distinct and definite branch of it, and reserves no further question or decision for future determination. Flanagan, Wiltrout and Hamilton's Indiana Trial and Appellate Practice, § 2152 (1959 Supp.). There is a difference between a final judgment and an interlocutory order. In Pfeiffer et al. v. Crane, Guardian, 1883, 89 Ind. 485, 487, our Supreme Court stated:
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