C T v. D W ( 2024 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision is not
binding precedent for any court and may be cited only for persuasive value
or to establish res judicata, collateral estoppel, or law of the case.
FILED
Sep 11 2024, 9:44 am
CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
IN THE
Court of Appeals of Indiana
C.T.,
Appellant-Respondent
v.
D.W.,
Appellee-Petitioner
September 11, 2024
Court of Appeals Case No.
24A-AD-964
Appeal from the Montgomery Superior Court
The Honorable Daniel G. Petrie, Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
54D02-1808-AD-32
Memorandum Decision by Judge Bailey
Chief Judge Altice and Judge Mathias concur.
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Bailey, Judge.
Case Summary
[1] C.T. (“Father”) appeals the trial court’s grant of a petition to adopt N.X.T.
(“Child”) filed by D.W. (“Stepfather”). We affirm.
Issues
[2] Father raises three issues, which we revise and restate as the following two
issues:
1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it
ultimately determined that Father’s consent to the
adoption was irrevocably implied despite an earlier finding
that it was not.
2. Whether the court abused its discretion when it
determined that the adoption was in Child’s best interests.
Facts and Procedural History
[3] Father and S.W. (“Mother”) were in a relationship. Mother gave birth to Child
on May 19, 2013, and Father signed a paternity affidavit identifying himself as
Child’s biological father. Sometime in 2014, Mother and Father terminated
their relationship. Father then, pro se, filed a paternity action in juvenile court
requesting parenting time with Child. Father was granted parenting time and
ordered to pay sixty-one dollars per week in child support. Father executed
supervised parenting time with Child and then moved to unsupervised
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parenting time. But the visits ultimately stopped. 1 Mother married Stepfather
on May 7, 2017. Father continued to pay child support.
[4] On August 1, 2018, Stepfather filed a petition to adopt Child. In that petition,
Stepfather asserted that Father’s consent was not required because he had
abandoned Child for at least six months, had failed to communicate
significantly with Child for more than one year, and was unfit to be a parent.
Contemporaneous with the petition, Stepfather filed Mother’s consent to the
adoption.
[5] After Stepfather filed his petition, the Court Clerk sent Father a Notice of
Adoption. In that notice, Father was advised that, if he wanted to contest the
adoption, he “must file a motion to contest the adoption . . . not later than
thirty (30) days after the date of service of this notice.” Appellant’s App. Vol. 2
at 17. Father did not receive service of the petition or notice at that time, and
they were returned to the sender as “undeliverable as addressed.” Id. at 18.
Stepfather then refiled his petition the following year, and Father was served
with the petition and accompanying notice on October 2, 2019.
[6] On November 7, Stepfather filed a motion in which he asked the court to
determine that Father’s consent was irrevocably implied. In particular,
Stepfather asserted that Father’s “time to contest the adoption expired on
1
Mother contends that Father last visited with Child in 2015; Father maintains that he visited with Child
until 2017.
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November 1, 2019,” but that Father had failed to contest the adoption or take
any other action prior to that date. Id. at 28. In a docket entry, the court noted
that “the Motion for Consent shall be denied.” Id. at 4.
[7] No action was taken on the petition for almost four years. According to
Stepfather, “COVID more or less hit,” he never “got a court date,” and he “just
kind of let it stall out at the time.” Tr. at 75. On May 11, 2023, Stepfather filed
a motion requesting a hearing on his adoption petition. Father then filed a
motion for change of judge and asserted that the judge had “represented
[Mother]” in the paternity case. Appellee’s App. Vol. 2 at 84. The trial court
granted Father’s motion, and a special judge was appointed.
[8] The court held a hearing on Stepfather’s petition on February 14, 2024, to
determine “issues of both consent and best interests.” Tr. at 18. During the
hearing, Father acknowledged that he had received service of the adoption
petition in 2019 but believed it meant that Child had “already been adopted”
and that his “rights were gone.” Id. at 27, 52. Father also argued that, after
visits with Child stopped, he had attempted to contact Mother but that Mother
had “blocked his access to her[.]” Id. at 8. He also asserted that Mother had
blocked all forms of communication from his new wife and his parents. Father
maintained that, when he asked a “child support officer” about visitation, the
officer informed him that he either needed to hire an attorney or write a letter to
the court. Id. at 28. Father asserts that he wrote a letter to the court in 2018,
and that he “never got anything back.” Id. at 29.
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[9] Mother testified that she has not heard from Father in “almost five years” since
Stepfather had filed the adoption petition. Id. at 81. She also testified that
Father last saw Child in May of 2015 and has had no “calls [or] anything like
that” with Child since that time. Id. at 85. Mother also admitted that there was
a time when she had blocked Father from contacting her via social media but
that he “was unblocked” before Father started visiting with Child. Id. at 86.
She further testified that, while she had moved more than once and obtained a
new cell phone number, she had always notified the child support office of
those changes. Mother acknowledged that Father had continued to consistently
pay child support.
[10] Following the hearing, the parties submitted additional briefs. In his brief,
Stepfather asserted that Father’s consent was not required because he had
irrevocably consented by failing to contest the adoption within thirty days of
receiving the petition. In particular, Stepfather asserted that, despite having “4
years to respond,” Father “has failed to do so, to this day.” Appellant’s App.
Vol. 2 at 33. Stepfather also asserted that the adoption was in Child’s best
interests because Child is “stable” with Stepfather and because visitation with
Father would be “a traumatic change.” Id. at 35.
[11] Father responded and asserted that the initial judge had made a docket entry
denying Stepfather’s motion that Father’s consent was irrevocably implied and
that the “minute entry is legally binding.” Id. at 37. He also asserted that
adoption was not in Child’s best interests because Child should be able “to
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know [his] biological family” and because Child should know that Father “did
not abandon him.” Id. at 42.
[12] The trial court issued an order in which it found that Father “failed to file an
objection or motion to contest the adoption within the statutory timeframe” and
as such, that Father’s “consent is irrevocably implied[.]” Id. at 45. The court
then took the matter of the Child’s best interests under advisement. After
Stepfather filed a motion to waive the formal home study, which motion the
court granted, the court issued its adoption decree granting Stepfather’s petition
to adopt Child. This appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
Issue One: Father’s Consent
[13] Father first contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it
reconsidered its initial ruling that his consent was not irrevocably implied and
ultimately found that it was. “Our standard of review in evaluating a trial
court’s reconsideration of its prior ruling is abuse of discretion. An abuse of
discretion occurs when the trial court’s decision is against the logic and effect of
the facts and circumstances before it.” Celadon Trucking Servs., Inc. v. United
Equip. Leasing, LLC, 10 N.E.3d 91, 94 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014) (quotation marks
and citations omitted).
[14] Here, Stepfather filed a motion in which he asked the court to determine that
Father’s consent was irrevocably implied after Father failed to contest the
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adoption within thirty days. In a docket entry with no corresponding
explanation, the court noted that Stepfather’s motion “shall be denied.”
Appellant’s App. Vol. 2 at 4. Then, following a rather lengthy passage of time,
a change of judge, and a hearing, the trial court issued a new order finding that
Father’s consent was irrevocably implied. Despite Father’s arguments to the
contrary, we cannot say that change constituted an abuse of discretion.
[15] Indiana Code Section 31-19-9-18(b)(1) (2018) provides that the “consent of a
person who is served with notice . . . to [an] adoption is irrevocably implied
without further court action” if the person “fails to file a motion to contest the
adoption . . . not later than thirty days after service of notice[.]”2 That statute is
clear. Father only had thirty days from the time he received service of the
adoption notice to file his motion to contest. Father received notice on October
2, 2019, but did not contest the adoption or take any action related to the
adoption proceedings until he filed a motion for a change of judge in September
2023, well outside of the thirty-day deadline.
[16] Still, Father contends that the court should not find that his consent was
irrevocably implied because he “demonstrated a continued intention to attempt
to maintain his relationship with [Child]” and because Mother and Stepfather
“intended to continue to accept child support from” him. Appellant’s Br. at 19.
He also maintains that he was unable to afford an attorney. In other words,
2
The statute has since been amended, and the timeframe in which a party must contest the adoption has
been reduced to fifteen days. See Ind. Code § 31-19-9-18 (2024).
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Father asserts that the specific facts of his case should allow for equitable
deviation from the statute. However, this Court has previously rejected a
similar argument. Indeed, in B.M. v. J.R. (In re Adoption of K.M.), this Court
held that the “language of the statute imposes a condition precedent to the
enforcement of a right, i.e., the filing of a motion to contest a petition for
adoption. If the condition precedent is not met, the right of action is lost and
the adoption may not be challenged.” 31 N.E.3d 533, 538 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).
Thus, this Court found that the statute “is a nonclaim statute” and that a party
“is not entitled to equitable deviation from the thirty-day time limit and courts
are not permitted to utilize equity to rectify an injustice even if warranted by the
situation.” Id.3
[17] We acknowledge that Father believed that the adoption had already been
granted when he received a copy of Stepfather’s petition and the accompanying
notice from the court. And we acknowledge that Father was of limited means
to hire an attorney. But that does not relieve Father of the burden imposed
under the statute to file his response within thirty days.4 Because the statute is
unambiguous and imposes a bright-line rule, Father’s consent was irrevocably
implied when he failed to respond within thirty days. As such, we cannot say
3
We decline Father’s request to “revisit[]” our holding in In re Adoption of K.T. As Father appears to
acknowledge, in order for him to raise equitable defenses, the statute must be amended—a task that falls to
the Indiana General Assembly, not this Court.
4
We note that Father demonstrated at least a basic understanding of the court system when he filed, pro se,
the paternity action after his relationship with Mother ended.
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that the court abused its discretion when it reconsidered its prior ruling. We
affirm the trial court on this issue.5
Issue Two: Best Interests
[18] Father next appeals the trial court’s grant of Stepfather’s petition to adopt
Child. Our standard of review is well settled:
In family law matters, we generally give considerable deference
to the trial court’s decision because we recognize that the trial
judge is in the best position to judge the facts, determine witness
credibility, get a feel for the family dynamics, and get a sense of
the parents and their relationship with their children.
Accordingly, when reviewing an adoption case, we presume that
the trial court’s decision is correct, and the appellant bears the
burden of rebutting this presumption.
J.W. v. D.F. (In re E.B.F.), 93 N.E.3d 759, 762 (Ind. 2018) (quotation marks and
citations omitted). We will not disturb the trial court’s decision in an adoption
proceeding unless the evidence at trial leads to but one conclusion and the trial
court reached the opposite conclusion. R.K.H. v. Morgan Cty. Ofc. of Fam. and
Children (In re Adoption of M.W.), 845 N.E.2d 229, 238 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). We
will neither reweigh the evidence nor assess the credibility of witnesses, and we
will examine only the evidence most favorable to the trial court’s decision. Id.5
Because we affirm the trial court on this issue, we need not address Father’s argument that his consent was
still required because he had not failed to communicate with Child for more than one year.
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[19] It is well settled that, “[e]ven if a court determines that a natural parent’s
consent is not required for an adoption, the court must still determine whether
adoption is in the child’s best interests.” N.R. v. K.G. and C.G. (In re Adoption of
O.R.), 16 N.E.3d 965, 974 (Ind. 2014). On appeal, Father contends that the
court erred when it granted the adoption because it was not in Child’s best
interests. In particular, Father asserts that “there have been no allegations
against [him] for violence, drug, or controlled substance use”; he “has provided
a stable home for his six other children[] and has regular parenting time with a
seventh”; and he is “able to financially support his family[.]” Appellant’s Br. at
27. And he maintains that, by granting the adoption, “[Child] is denied a
relationship” with his siblings and grandparents. Id.[20] However, Father’s argument on appeal is simply a request for this Court to
reweigh the evidence, which we cannot do. Rather, the evidence demonstrates
that, at best, Father has not seen Child or had any “calls [or] anything like that”
with Child in seven years. Tr. at 85. The evidence also shows that Child has
lived with Stepfather since 2016, that Child has a “great” relationship with
Stepfather, that Child has “a bond” with Stepfather’s family, and that Child has
a stable life with Mother and Stepfather. Id. at 65, 67. Further, Child refers to
Stepfather as “dad.” Id. at 86. Stepfather also testified that Child is doing well
in school and socially.
[21] We cannot say that “the evidence at trial leads to but one conclusion and the
trial court reached the opposite conclusion.” In re Adoption of M.W., 845 N.E.2d
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at 238. As such, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found that
the adoption of Child by Stepfather was in Child’s best interests.
Conclusion
[22] The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it revised its prior order and
ultimately determined that Father’s consent to the adoption was irrevocably
implied. And the court did not abuse its discretion when it found that the
adoption was in Child’s best interests. We therefore affirm the trial court.
[23] Affirmed.
Altice, C.J., and Mathias, J., concur.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Aaron J. Spolarich
Bennett Boehning & Clary, LLP
Lafayette, Indiana
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE
Litany A. Pyle
Crawfordsville, Indiana
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