The portion of the notice warning Coats of possible default through failure to appear was ambiguous and could reasonably have been understood to apply only to the hearing for which she was required to appear, not to both hearings. In addition to not having appropriate notice, Coats was denied the representation by counsel guaranteed by the juvenile-procedure rules, because the court granted her attorney s motion to withdraw as counsel before proceeding with the termination hearing. Over and above the inadequate notice and the lack of representation, the default termination sharply exceeded the usual scope of a pretrial hearing, which is generally limited to pretrial issues and motions. See Minn. R. Juv. The default termination for failure to appear at the pretrial hearing not only deviated from the procedures prescribed by the juvenile rules, but also violated Coats s due-process rights.
Parents have a substantial and fundamental right to the custody and care of their children.
Welfare of HGB ,306 N.W.2d at 825. Accordingly, parental rights should be terminated only in accordance with due process and for grave and weighty reasons. Fundamental fairness guarantees a parent facing termination proceedings a right to a meaningful adversarial hearing. The right to a meaningful adversarial hearing is also guaranteed by statute. We have upheld termination hearings conducted in the absence of a party only when the party is represented by counsel.