Opinion ID: 1638025
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the chancellor erred in allowing kay gartrell to attack a final decree of adoption entered twenty-five years ago.

Text: ¶ 10. Summary judgment should be granted only if the pleadings, discovery materials, depositions, and affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c). This Court conducts a de novo review of a trial court's decision on a motion for summary judgment. Mabus v. St. James Episcopal Church, 13 So.3d 260, 263 (Miss.2009) (citing Smith v. Gilmore Mem'l Hosp., Inc., 952 So.2d 177, 180 (Miss.2007)). The question of standing is a question to which this Court applies a de novo standard of review. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Gaddis, 730 So.2d 1116, 1117 (Miss.1998). ¶ 11. The Appellants argue that Kay lacks standing to have the adoption set aside because she is not one of the natural parents. Mississippi Code Section 93-17-7 reads, in pertinent part: No infant shall be adopted to any person if either parent, after having been summoned, shall appear and object thereto before the making of a decree for adoption. . . . Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-7 (Rev.2004). Mississippi Code Section 93-17-5 lists both parents as necessary parties to adoption proceedings. Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Rev.2004). The Appellants point out that at no time did George, the children's natural father, object to, or attempt to set aside, the adoption. ¶ 12. Historically, proceedings for adoption were unknown at common law, and have been purely statutory in nature. Matter of Adoption of A Minor, 558 So.2d 854, 856 (Miss.1990) (citing Brassiell v. Brassiell, 228 Miss. 243, 250, 87 So.2d 699, 700 (1956)). [O]nly a natural parent has a statutory right to object to the adoption of a child. In re Estate of Reid, 825 So.2d 1, 7 (Miss.2002) (citing In re Adoption of J.J.G., 736 So.2d 1037, 1040 (Miss.1999); Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-7 (Rev.1994)). This Court has affirmed the chancery court's judgment due to lack of standing in cases in which natural grandparents sought either to object to adoption proceedings or to set aside an adoption. J.J.G., 736 So.2d at 1040. See also Matter of Adoption of A Minor, 558 So.2d at 855. ¶ 13. Both parties bring to our attention that this Court, in In re Estate of Reid, 825 So.2d 1 (Miss.2002), noted one exception to the general rule that only natural parents have standing to object to adoption proceedings. Kay cites this case for the premise that an heir of an estate was recognized by this Court as having standing to attack collaterally a fifteen-year-old adoption decree wherein an adult male was adopted by his elderly benefactor, on the basis that the adoption was obtained by fraud and overreaching. Id. at 7. On the other hand, the Appellants distinguish the facts in today's case from those in Reid on the basis that this Court allowed the challenge to the adoption in Reid only because the adoptee had committed fraud on the adoption court based on evidence that the adopteean adult male who stood to inherit all of his adoptive mother's propertyhad used undue influence in securing the adoption and drafting the will of his adoptive mother. Id. at 8. ¶ 14. In Reid, a twenty-four-year-old law student by the name of Michael Cupit developed a close relationship with seventy-eight-year-old Reid. Id. at 3. During the course of this relationship, Cupit had Reid deed her property to him, helped her draft a will that devised all of Reid's property to him, persuaded Reid to transfer a power of attorney to him, and actively sought out an adoption wherein Reid eventually adopted Cupit. Id. at 3-4. The adoption was found by the chancellor to be a long term plan and scheme obtained by fraud and overreaching on the part of Cupit. Id. at 7. As a result of the fraud committed upon the adoption court, the adoption decree was set aside by the chancellor in light of the facts not made known to the adoption court at the time of the adoption, including the deed, the circumstances surrounding the drafting of Reid's will, the previous attempted adoption, and the fact that Cupit had acted as an attorney on behalf of Reid. Id. at 7-8. Based on these facts, this Court affirmed the chancery court's allowing Reid's potential heir to collaterally attack and set aside the adoption. Id. at 7. In doing so, this Court reasoned: We recognize that the adoption of children is sacred, and the finality of adoptions is of the utmost necessity. However, we are not dealing with the adoption of a child in this case. We are dealing with an adult man, with a law degree, who gained the trust and dependence of an elderly lady. Other states have recognized this problem and found that the heirs of a deceased person who adopted an adult do have standing to attack the adoption. In re Sewall, 242 Cal.App.2d 208, 51 Cal.Rptr. 367, 378 (1966); Greene v. Fitzpatrick, 220 Ky. 590, 295 S.W. 896 (1927); Raymond v. Cooke, 226 Mass. 326, 115 N.E. 423 (1917). Id. ¶ 15. We agree with the Appellants that the facts of today's case are easily distinguishable from those in Reid. The Appellants in today's case are the stepchildren and wife of William Gartrell, III. Jodey and Lisa were adopted by their stepfather, William, while still teenagers. The record shows that George, the children's natural father, had terminated support of his natural children five years prior to the 1984 adoption. In Reid, this Court explicitly stated: Let it be clear that our findings concerning the adoption in this case are specific to the facts of this case. Id. Therefore, Reid should not be interpreted as giving standing, carte blanche, to persons other than natural parents in attempting to set aside adoptions. ¶ 16. Kay has maintained throughout the proceedings in the trial court, and now makes assertions in her brief, that Diane committed a fraud upon the court when she informed the chancery court in 1984 that the whereabouts of the children's natural father were unknown after diligent search and inquiry, and that he could not be made a party to the adoption proceedings. The chancery court, however, in its August 12, 2008, Order Determining Heirs At Law of Dorothy Bryan Gartrell, made no such finding that fraud had been committed upon the chancery court issuing the 1984 adoption decree. ¶ 17. For the reasons stated, we hold that Kay Gartrell lacks statutory standing to set aside the 1984 adoption decree because she is not one of the natural parents of Lisa and Jodey, and she was not a necessary party to the original proceedings. We thus find this assignment of error has merit. Since this issue is dispositive, we deem it unnecessary to address the remaining issues asserted by the Appellants. [5]