Opinion ID: 2066489
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: De Facto Parent Status

Text: [¶ 18] In the absence of a determination that a child would be in circumstances of jeopardy if placed with either parent, grandparents may seek parental rights or contact with their grandchildren over the objections of parents in two ways: (1) grandparents may seek visitation rights pursuant to Maine's Grandparents Visitation Act, 19-A M.R.S. §§ 1801-1805 (2007), amended by P.L. 2007, ch. 513, § 4 (effective June 30, 2008) (to be codified at 19-A M.R.S. § 1803(8)(A)); see generally Rideout, 2000 ME 198, 761 A.2d 291, or (2) they may, as the Philbrooks have done, file a parental rights and responsibilities proceeding, demonstrate to a court that they are the de facto parents of their grandchildren, and seek parental rights and responsibilities in accordance with that status, see C.E.W. v. D.E.W., 2004 ME 43, ¶¶ 9-10, 845 A.2d 1146, 1149-51. [4] [¶ 19] When any person who is not a legal parent, including a grandparent, seeks to have the court declare that that person is a de facto parent to a child over a parent's objection, the court must make a preliminary determination that such a relationship does in fact exist before a parent can be required to fully litigate the issue. See, e.g., Davis, 2008 ME 125, ¶ 17, 953 A.2d at 1171; Rideout, 2000 ME 198, ¶ 30, 761 A.2d at 302-03. This determination establishes whether a party has standing to seek the relief requested. See Davis, 2008 ME 125, ¶ 17, 953 A.2d at 1171 (characterizing the determination whether a party can establish a de facto parent relationship as a standing issue that poses a threshold question for the court); Rideout, 2000 ME 198, ¶ 30, 761 A.2d at 302 (citing 19-A M.R.S. § 1803(1) (entitled, Standing to petition for visitation rights)). [¶ 20] Our standing requirement is prudential, with the basic premise being to limit access to the courts to those best suited to assert a particular claim. Roop v. City of Belfast, 2007 ME 32, ¶ 7, 915 A.2d 966, 968 (quotation marks omitted). The prerequisites necessary for a party to have standing depend on the context. See id. [¶ 21] Absent any argument that the court committed clear error in its factual findings regarding standing, see Bissias v. Koulovatos, 2000 ME 189, ¶ 6, 761 A.2d 47, 49, we address de novo the legal question of what is required to establish standing to seek parental rights and responsibilities as a de facto parent, see id.; 19-A M.R.S. § 1653 (2007), amended by P.L. 2007, ch. 513, §§ 2, 3 (effective June 30, 2008) (to be codified at 19-A M.R.S. § 1653(6-A)(A), (6-B)(A) (authorizing a court to enter an order regarding parental rights and responsibilities for a child)). [¶ 22] In this context, standing to seek parental rights and responsibilities requires a prima facie demonstration of de facto parent status. See Davis, 2008 ME 125, ¶ 17, 953 A.2d at 1171; Rideout, 2000 ME 198, ¶ 30, 761 A.2d at 302. Although we have not precisely defined the parameters of the de facto parent concept, we have made clear that it is a doctrine that may be applied only in limited circumstances, C.E.W., 2004 ME 43, ¶ 10, 845 A.2d at 1150-51, when the putative de facto parent has undertaken a permanent, unequivocal, committed, and responsible parental role in the child's life, id. 14, ¶ 845 A.2d at 1152. [¶ 23] We have never extended the de facto parent concept to include an individual who has not been understood to be the child's parent but who intermittently assumes parental duties at certain points of time in a child's life. Rather, when we have recognized a person as a de facto parent, we have done so in circumstances when the individual was understood and acknowledged to be the child's parent both by the child and by the child's other parent. See C.E.W., 2004 ME 43, ¶¶ 2-4, 11, 13, 845 A.2d at 1147, 1151; Stitham v. Henderson, 2001 ME 52, ¶ 17, 768 A.2d 598, 603. [¶ 24] For instance, we held that a man was a de facto parent when he raised a child as his own for several years beginning upon the child's birth and later discovered that he was not the child's biological father through paternity testing. Stitham, 2001 ME 52, ¶¶ 2-3, 17, 768 A.2d at 599-600, 603. In that case, the child, the mother, and the de facto father all behaved as if the de facto father was the child's father, biologically and emotionally, until blood testing proved otherwise. Id. He and the child had a parent-child relationship, and he had been the child's legal father. Id. [¶ 25] In another case, we held that a woman who had functioned as the mother of her partner's biological child for years, and who, by agreement with the biological parent, was raising the child as her own son, was also qualified as a de facto parent. C.E.W., 2004 ME 43, ¶¶ 2-4, 11, 13, 845 A.2d at 1147, 1151. In both Stitham and C.E.W., the individual held to be a de facto parent served in a parental capacity, was understood by the child to be a parent, functioned as the parent of the child, and was accepted by the biological parent as a parent. [¶ 26] Here, the Philbrooks certainly demonstrated that they provided needed care for the boys, and as the court observed, that they have been loving and helpful grandparents, but they were never thought to be the boys' parents. Nor were they invited to be treated as parents by the Theriaults as in C.E.W. Rather, the Philbrooks functioned as caring grandparents for their grandsons during what was obviously a difficult period for the boys' parents. The children were very fortunate to have had the love and stability that their grandparents provided during their parents' periods of turmoil. In the end, however, the Philbrooks' willingness to provide care for their grandsons was commendable, but the care they provided was not sufficient to transform them into the boys' de facto parents. The court did not, therefore, err in dismissing the Philbrooks' complaint for lack of standing based on a finding that the Philbrooks had failed to establish a prima facie case that they were de facto parents. The entry is: Judgment affirmed.