IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA

2022-NCSC-52

No. 132PA21

Filed 6 May 2022

IN THE MATTER OF: J.N. & L.N.

On discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31 of a unanimous decision 

of the Court of Appeals, 276 N.C. App. 275, 2021-NCCOA-76, vacating and remanding 

an order entered on 8 January 2020 by Judge Lisa V. Menefee in District Court, 

Forsyth County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 22 March 2022.

Theresa A. Boucher for petitioner-appellee Forsyth County Department of Social 

Services.

Rosenwood, Rose & Litwak, PLLC, by Nancy S. Litwak, for appellee Guardian 

ad Litem.

Troy Shelton and R. Daniel Gibson for appellees juveniles’ guardians.

Benjamin J. Kull for respondent-appellant father. 

BERGER, Justice.

¶ 1 Respondent-father petitioned the Court for discretionary review of a Court of 

Appeals decision vacating the trial court’s permanency planning order and 

remanding the case for additional findings.1 We affirm. 

I. Background

¶ 2 On April 10, 2018, the Forsyth County Department of Social Services (DSS) 

 

1 The mother of the juveniles is deceased. 
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filed juvenile petitions alleging that J.N. (Jimmy) was an abused and neglected 

juvenile and L.N. (Lola) was a neglected juvenile.

2 The trial court granted nonsecure 

custody to DSS on the same day. On May 8, 2019, the trial court adjudicated Jimmy 

to be an abused and neglected juvenile and Lola to be a neglected juvenile.

¶ 3 The trial court held a permanency planning hearing on September 9, 2019. At 

the hearing, DSS sought to change the primary plan from reunification to 

guardianship with an approved caregiver. Respondent’s sole argument to the trial 

court was that reunification should remain the primary plan. Respondent did not 

argue or otherwise contend that the evidence failed to demonstrate he was an unfit 

parent or that his constitutionally-protected right to parent his children had been 

violated. As a result of the evidence presented at the hearing, the trial court granted 

guardianship of the children to the maternal grandparents. Respondent appealed.

¶ 4 In the Court of Appeals, respondent argued that the trial court erred in 

granting guardianship to the maternal grandparents without first finding that he 

was an unfit parent or he had acted inconsistently with his constitutional right to 

parent. In addition, respondent asserted that the trial court erred by failing to make 

required findings under N.C.G.S. § 7B-906.1(n) in the permanency planning order 

before ceasing further permanency planning review hearings.

¶ 5 On March 16, 2021, the Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s permanency 

 

2 Pseudonyms are used to protect the identity of the juveniles and for ease of reading. 
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planning order and remanded the case to the trial court for additional findings. In re 

J.N. & L.N., 276 N.C. App. 275, 2021-NCCOA-76, ¶ 15. The Court of Appeals agreed 

with respondent that the trial court erred by failing to make necessary findings under

N.C.G.S. § 7B-906.1(n). Id. ¶ 10. However, the Court of Appeals concluded that 

respondent had waived his argument that the trial court erred by granting 

guardianship without first concluding that respondent was an unfit parent or had 

acted inconsistently with his constitutional right to parent. Id. ¶ 9. Respondent 

petitioned this Court for discretionary review, arguing that the Court of Appeals 

erred by holding that respondent failed to preserve his constitutional argument.

II. Analysis

¶ 6 Respondent contends that his constitutional argument is automatically 

preserved under N.C. R. App. P. 10(a)(1) by our holding in Petersen v. Rogers, 337 

N.C. 397, 445 S.E.2d 901 (1994). There, this Court stated that “the law presumes 

parents will perform their obligations to their children, [and] presumes their prior 

right to custody.” Id. at 403, 445 S.E.2d at 904 (quoting In re Hughes, 254 N.C. 434, 

436–37, 119 S.E.2d 189, 191 (1961)). “[A]bsent a finding that parents (i) are unfit or 

(ii) have neglected the welfare of their children, the constitutionally-protected 

paramount right of parents to custody, care, and control of their children must 

prevail.” Id. at 403–04, 445 S.E.2d at 905. 

¶ 7 But the existence of a constitutional protection does not obviate the 
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requirement that arguments rooted in the Constitution be preserved for appellate 

review. Our appellate courts have consistently found that unpreserved constitutional 

arguments are waived on appeal. See State v. Lloyd, 354 N.C. 76, 86–87, 552 S.E.2d 

596, 607 (2001) (“Constitutional issues not raised and passed upon at trial will not be 

considered for the first time on appeal.”); State v. Fernandez, 346 N.C. 1, 18, 484 

S.E.2d 350, 361 (1997) (holding that defendant waived confrontation and due process 

arguments by not first raising the issues in the trial court); Dep’t of Transp. v. 

Haywood Oil Co., 195 N.C. App. 668, 677–78, 673 S.E.2d 712, 718 (2009) (holding 

that arguments pertaining to Fourteenth Amendment to the United States 

Constitution and law of the land clause of the North Carolina Constitution, although 

constitutional issues, were not raised before the trial court and therefore not properly 

preserved for appeal); State v. Wiley, 355 N.C. 592, 615, 565 S.E.2d 22, 39 (2002) (“It 

is well settled that an error, even one of constitutional magnitude, that [is not 

brought] to the trial court’s attention is waived and will not be considered on 

appeal.”). 

¶ 8 Nothing in Petersen serves to negate our rules on the preservation of 

constitutional issues. Thus, a parent’s argument concerning his or her paramount 

interest to the custody of his or her child, although afforded constitutional protection, 

may be waived on review if the issue is not first raised in the trial court.

¶ 9 Here, respondent failed to assert his constitutional argument in the trial court. 
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Respondent was on notice that DSS and the guardian ad litem were recommending 

that the trial court change the primary permanent plan in this case from reunification 

to guardianship. Prior to the hearing, DSS filed a court report in which it stated that 

reunification was not possible due to the minimal progress respondent had made and 

because respondent was unable to provide for the safety and well-being of Jimmy and 

Lola. DSS, therefore, recommended that guardianship be granted to the maternal 

grandparents. Further, the guardian ad litem also filed a court report recommending 

that guardianship be granted to the maternal grandparents. Moreover, during 

closing arguments at the hearing, the guardian ad litem attorney specifically stated,

“Your Honor, at this point, we feel and would respectfully request that you allow 

guardianship to be given to [the maternal grandparents].”

¶ 10 In turn, respondent’s argument focused on the reasons reunification would be 

a more appropriate plan. Despite having the opportunity to argue or otherwise assert 

that awarding guardianship to the maternal grandparents would be inappropriate on 

constitutional grounds, respondent failed to do so. Therefore, respondent waived the 

argument for appellate review. 

III. Conclusion

¶ 11 The Court of Appeals did not err in concluding that respondent waived his 

constitutional argument by not first raising the issue before the trial court. 

AFFIRMED.
Justice EARLS concurring.

¶ 12 I concur with the majority that in the context of an abuse and neglect 

proceeding in juvenile court, the potential issue that a trial court’s order may infringe 

upon a parent’s constitutional right under the substantive Due Process Clause of the 

Fourteenth Amendment to the custody, care, and control of their child is subject to 

the general rule that the issue must first be raised by the parent in the trial court. 

See, e.g., State v. Creason, 313 N.C. 122, 127 (1985) (explaining that the Court is not 

required to rule on a constitutional issue that was not raised and determined in the 

trial court). At the same time, nothing in the Court’s decision today in any way 

compromises or negates the principles established in Petersen v. Rogers, 337 N.C. 397, 

403–04 (1994), Price v. Howard, 346 N.C. 68, 79 (1997), Adams v. Tessener, 354 N.C. 

57, 62 (2001), and Owenby v. Young, 357 N.C. 142, 148 (2003), that (1) a parent has 

a “constitutionally protected paramount interest in the companionship, custody, care, 

and control of his or her child,” Price, 346 N.C. at 79; (2) before awarding custody of 

a parent’s child to a nonparent, the trial court must first determine, based on clear 

and convincing evidence, that the natural parent has forfeited their constitutionallyprotected status, Owenby, 357 N.C. at 148; and (3) a parent forfeits this paramount 

interest by either being unfit to have custody or when the parent’s behavior “viewed 

cumulatively” has been inconsistent with the parent’s constitutionally-protected 

parental status, id. Limited to the narrow facts of this case, we hold today that while 

a parent’s rights are protected by “a constitutionally based presumption,” Routten v. 
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Earls, J., concurring

Routten, 374 N.C. 571, 576 (quoting Routten v. Routten, 262 N.C. App. 436, 459 (2018) 

(Inman, J., concurring in part)), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. 958 (2020), reh’g denied, 141 

S. Ct. 1456 (2021), when a child is already in the custody of a nonparent by valid court 

order, as in these juvenile court proceedings, a parent on notice that a court may enter

a permanent order of guardianship must raise the objection that the constitutionallyrequired findings are not present in order to preserve that issue for appeal.1

¶ 13 As recent decisions illustrate, several propositions also follow from this 

conclusion. First, a parent must actually have an opportunity to make the argument 

in the court below. For example, if the procedural posture of the case is such that the 

Department of Social Services (DSS) has noticed a hearing to determine visitation 

and does not present any evidence that the parent is unfit or has acted inconsistently 

with their parental rights, but after the hearing the parent receives an order in which 

the trial court has imposed guardianship, the parent has had no chance to raise the 

 

1 While state statutory schemes are distinct, most other states that have addressed 

whether a parent waives constitutional arguments in these circumstances by not raising 

them below follow this rule. See, e.g., In re L.M.I., 119 S.W.3d 707, 710–11 (Tex. 2003) 

(holding that in termination of parental rights cases, constitutional due process rights must 

be raised in the trial court in order to be considered on appeal); In re Doe, 454 P.3d 1140, 

1146 (Idaho 2019) (same); In re Zanaya W., 291 Neb. 20, 31, 863 N.W.2d 803, 812 (2015) 

(holding that a trial court cannot be found to have committed error regarding an issue 

never presented to it for disposition). The states that do appear to allow parents to raise 

these issues for the first time on appeal hold that an appellate court has a duty to sua 

sponte consider violations of fundamental constitutional rights. See, e.g., In re S.S., 2004 

OK CIV APP 33, ¶ 7, 90 P.3d 571, 574–75; Monica C. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 211 Ariz. 

89, ¶ 23, 118 P.3d 37, 42 (2005); In re B.A., 2014 VT 76, 197 Vt. 169, 101 A.3d 168; In re

H.Q., 182 Wash. App. 541, 330 P.3d. 195, 200 (2014).
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constitutional issue before the trial court. See, e.g., In re R.P., 252 N.C. App. 301, 305 

(2017) (holding that although a parent’s right to findings regarding his or her 

constitutionally-protected status is waived if the parent does not raise the issue 

before the trial court, no waiver occurred when the parent was not afforded the 

opportunity to raise an objection at the permanency planning review hearing). In 

such circumstances the parent has not waived their right to findings regarding their 

constitutional status because there was no opportunity to raise an objection at the 

hearing.

¶ 14 Second, there are no “magic words” such as “constitutionally-protected status 

as a parent” that must be uttered by counsel, nor is the parent’s counsel required to 

object to certain evidence or specific findings of fact to preserve the constitutional 

issue. DSS may present evidence that a parent is unfit or otherwise has acted 

inconsistently with their constitutionally-protected status. Unless the parent 

presents no evidence and makes no arguments, the parent has raised the 

constitutional issue by responding to DSS’s arguments. See In re B.R.W., 2021-

NCCOA-343, ¶ 40, aff’d, No. 310A21 (N.C. May 6, 2022).

¶ 15 Third, when a parent is on notice that the trial court is considering awarding 

guardianship to a nonparent and DSS has not offered evidence that the parent is 

unfit or has acted inconsistently with their constitutionally-protected status, the 

parent still must raise the constitutional issue in the trial court, and failure to do so 
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constitutes a waiver. See, e.g., In re C.P., 258 N.C. App. 241, 246 (2018). The trial 

court must be on notice that the parent is contesting the loss of their constitutional 

rights and their arguments for why the evidence does not overcome that presumption. 

The trial court must then make the factual findings necessary to support its legal 

determination of whether the parent is unfit or has acted inconsistently with his or 

her constitutionally-protected parental status, with the burden of proof remaining 

with the petitioner. See Price, 346 N.C. at 84.

¶ 16 It remains the law in North Carolina that a trial court cannot proceed to 

evaluate the best interests of the child “[u]ntil, and unless, the [petitioner] establishes 

by clear and convincing evidence that a natural parent’s behavior, viewed 

cumulatively, has been inconsistent with his or her protected status.” Owenby, 357 

N.C. at 148. Moreover, the “clear and convincing standard requires evidence that 

should fully convince.” In re I.K., 377 N.C. 417, 2021-NCSC-60, ¶ 19 (quoting 

Scarborough v. Dillard’s, Inc., 363 N.C. 715, 721 (2009)). “This burden is more 

exacting than the preponderance of the evidence standard[.]” Id. (quoting 

Scarborough, 363 N.C. at 721).

¶ 17 Finally, as a matter of issue preservation, it remains true that while “a 

constitutional question which is not raised and passed upon in the trial court will not 

ordinarily be considered on appeal[,]” State v. Benson, 323 N.C. 318, 322 (1988) 

(quoting State v. Hunter, 305 N.C. 106, 112 (1982)), this does not mean that 
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constitutional issues may never be raised in the first instance on appeal. As our rules 

explicitly recognize, some issues are deemed preserved by rule or law. See N.C. R. 

App. P. 10(a); N.C.G.S. § 15A-1446(d) (2021). Moreover, “[t]his Court may exercise its 

supervisory power to consider constitutional questions not properly raised in the trial 

court, but only in exceptional circumstances.” Anderson v. Assimos, 356 N.C. 415, 416

(2002). Such exceptional circumstances are not present in this case. Therefore, I 

concur that the constitutional issues were not properly preserved for appeal.