Opinion ID: 888841
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Pre-1999 Decisions

Text: ¶ 55 In the first case, the Court in Matter of Guardianship of Doney, 174 Mont. 282, 570 P.2d 575 (1977), returned the children to the biological father even though the biological father had given their aunt temporary custody after the children's mother had died. In In re A.R.A., 277 Mont. 66, 919 P.2d 388 (1996), the Court awarded custody to the absent biological father after the child's mother died and the step-father had sought custody in favor of the biological father. Finally, the Court in Girard v. Williams, 1998 MT 231, 291 Mont. 49, 966 P.2d 1155, awarded custody to the biological father. The step-father had cared for the children after the mother had been murdered and after the biological father had been incarcerated. Girard, ¶¶ 3-5, 9. The step-father later died and his brother and wife assumed care of the children. Girard, ¶ 13. The court rejected the attempt by the brother and wife of the step-father to obtain legal custody to the exclusion of the biological father. Girard, ¶ 57. Maniaci argues that these cases establish that the Court has not recognized the best interests of the child standard absent a showing of abuse, neglect, or dependency. ¶ 56 A third party in each of these cases attempted to secure custody of the minor children to the exclusion of the biological parent. The parties, in essence, sought to terminate the parental rights of the biological parent based upon the best interests of the child. More importantly, these cases predate the 1999 amendments. The pre-1999 statutes made termination of parental rights, based upon dependency, abuse, or neglect, the only option available to the Court before it could award a nonparent a custodial interest. Doney, 174 Mont. at 286, 570 P.2d at 577; In re A.R.A., 277 Mont. at 72, 919 P.2d at 392; Girard, ¶ 47.