Opinion ID: 2322862
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Family Court Decision on Remand

Text: Both the Mother and the Father appealed the Family Court's termination judgments. While those appeals were pending, this Court was notified that the Father had died. During the pendency of this appeal, we also decided Watson v. Division of Family Services, [4] in which we held that pursuant to the United States and Delaware Constitutions, a trial judge must decide whether counsel for indigent parents in a dependency and neglect proceeding should be appointed on a case-by-case basis. We remanded this matter to the Family Court to consider the implications of the Father's death on these proceedings and to ascertain whether the Father's personal representative intended to appear and assert an interest in this matter on behalf of the father's estate. The remand order also directed the Family Court to determine, in accordance with Watson, whether the parents had been denied their due process rights based on the failure to appoint counsel for them at the outset of the dependency and neglect proceedings. At the remand hearing, the Family Court heard limited testimony and argument from counsel in accordance with this Court's remand order. On April 25, 2003, the Family Court issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Family Court held that, because the Mother was incarcerated from the time of her initial court appearance through the conclusion of the termination proceedings  a period of almost two years  appointment of counsel for the Mother at the dependency proceeding would not have affected the outcome of the termination proceeding. Accordingly, the Family Court determined that the failure to appoint counsel for the Mother at the dependency and neglect proceedings constituted harmless error. With respect to the Father, the Family Court concluded that because he was never interested in reunification with his child, the appointment of an attorney would not have resulted in a different outcome for him either. The Family Court also found that the Father's death terminated his interest in the matter. The personal representative of the Father's estate had expressed no desire to appear and assert an interest in the Family Court proceeding. The Father's estate does not contest the Family Court's findings of fact and holdings of law. The Mother does not contest the Family Court's holding that the Father's rights are no longer at issue. The Mother does contest, however, the Family Court determination that the failure to appointment of counsel at the dependency and neglect proceedings did not violate her due process rights. Additionally, the Mother continues to appeal the termination of her parental rights on the merits.