Court Opinion

ID: 9587642
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:24:39.742846+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:26.180251
License: Public Domain

Judge GREENE
concurring.
I fully concur with the majority and write separately only to emphasize the appropriateness of the court’s use of the Rules of Civil Procedure in the context of the Termination of Parental Rights Act, Chapter 7A, Article 24B of the General Statutes (Act).
Unless the provisions of the Act explicitly or implicitly provide otherwise, the Rules of Civil Procedure apply to termination of parental rights cases. N.C.G.S. § 7A-193 (1989) (unless otherwise provided, Rules of Civil Procedure apply “in the district court division of the General Court of Justice”); In re Moore, 306 N.C. 394, 400, 293 S.E.2d 127, 130-31 (1982) (applying N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 58 to determine time of entry of order in termination of parental rights case), appeal dismissed, 459 U.S. 1139, 74 L.Ed.2d 987 (1983); In re Clark, 303 N.C. 592, 598 n.3, 281 S.E.2d 47, 52 n.3 (1981) (proceedings to terminate parental rights are either civil actions or special proceedings, both of which are governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure unless a different procedure is prescribed by statute); In re Manus, 82 N.C. App. 340, 344, 346 S.E.2d 289, 292 (1986) (applying N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 17(a) in determining that respondent was not entitled to dismissal of petition because of alleged erroneous designation of petitioner); In re Allen, 58 N.C. App. 322, 329-30, 293 S.E.2d 607, 612 (1982) (analyzing trial court’s *586entry of written order under N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 58); In re Peirce, 53 N.C. App. 373, 388-89, 281 S.E.2d 198, 207-08 (1981) (analyzing validity of trial court’s amendment to its judgment terminating parental rights under N.C.G.S. § 1A-1, Rule 60(a)).
The Act implicitly prohibits judgments on the pleadings, default judgments, and summary judgments. This is so because N.C.G.S. § 7A-289.28 (1989) requires the trial court to conduct a hearing on the petition to terminate the respondent’s parental rights, In re Tyner, 106 N.C. App. 480, 483, 417 S.E.2d 260, 261 (1992), thus precluding the use of Rule 12(c) (judgment on the pleadings), Rule 55 (default judgment) and Rule 56 (summary judgment). The Act also implicitly prohibits counterclaims by respondents. Peirce, 53 N.C. App. at 380, 281 S.E.2d at 203. Other provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure including Rule 12(b)(6), however, apply to the Act.