Court Opinion

ID: 9533348
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:30:49.90939+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:01.344555
License: Public Domain

ROSSMAN, J.,
specially concurring.
I concur in the opinion written by Mr. Justice Sloan. I add the following as additional reasons.
The plaintiffs argue that the mother of the child (Debra) was an indispensable party to the proceeding which the Waverly Baby Home instituted October 20, 1953, pursuant to ORS 419.526 and 419.538, whereby it sought authority to consent to Debra’s adoption. They contend that the service of citation upon the mother was defective and that, therefore, the court never acquired jurisdiction over the adoption proceeding. Having advanced those contentions, they claim that everything that occurred since the proceeding was instituted is void.
Neither of the child’s natural parents is a party to this suit. The only parties to the latter, which seeks to invalidate the adoption, are the adopting parents, *678who are the plaintiffs, together with the Waverly Baby Home and Debra as defendants. If the mother was a necessary party to the proceeding which was filed October 20, 1953, then, for exactly the same reason, she is a necessary party to this snit. In fact, there are even stronger reasons for demanding that she should have been made a party to this suit than that given by the plaintiffs in support of their contention that she should have been served with citation in the proceeding instituted October 20, 1953. I will presently develop those reasons.
In adoption proceedings, the child’s status is the subject matter of the proceeding. 1 Am Jur, Adoption of Children, p 652, § 53. Its relationship to its natural parents and to the individuals who desire to become its adopting parents will be changed completely by the adoptive order when entered.
This suit seeks to declare void the adoption order and thereupon exclude from the plaintiffs’ home and family this unfortunate little girl. If a decree of that kind is entered, the plaintiffs, who are now the adoptive parents, will become strangers to the child and owe her no duty. They will no longer be responsible for her and can no longer be required to support her. Upon the entry of an order of that kind, she could not inherit from either of her adoptive parents if a death occurred. If the plaintiffs have other children, her relationship to them presumably would be terminated, although they are not parties to this suit.
Now, let us consider the effect upon the natural parents if this prayed-for decree must be entered. The proceeding which was instituted July 27, 1951, and which separated Debra from her natural parents (1 Am Jur, Adoption of Children, p 650, §51) is not attacked in this proceeding. As has also been stated, *679the natural parents are not parties to this suit. Surely the natural parents, unless they are dumb-driven cattle, have an interest in this little girl and in the family in which she will be reared. So far as we know, they are satisfied with present arrangements.
If a decree must be entered for the plaintiffs, two possibilities will present themselves. First, it could be held that since the order which was entered in the proceeding instituted July 27,1951, is not under attack, and since the natural parents are not parties to this proceeding, they would not be bound by the outcome of this suit and thereupon Debra would have lost, not only her adoptive parents, but also her natural parents. Thus, an eight-year-old girl would be cast adrift in the world without home or parents. Surely no court in a civilized land would reach a conclusion of that kind. The other alternative would be to hold that the natural parents, upon the entry of a decree favorable to the plaintiffs, would again owe to Debra all the obligations of parenthood. But they are not parties to this suit. If, notwithstanding the fact that they are not parties to this suit, the entry of a decree favorable to the plaintiffs will restore them to their former status; then, if they have a home, they will be required to accept the little girl into it. They will again become responsible, not only for her discipline, but also for her support and upbringing. In the event of death she could inherit from them. The very mention of those facts shows that the natural parents are necessary parties to this suit. In fact, no just decree can be entered in the absence of the natural parents.
Debra has a brother whom the plaintiffs have also adopted. The two were the subjects of both of the proceedings mentioned in Mr. Justice Sloan’s opinion. The brother meets with the plaintiffs’ entire satisfae*680tion and they wish to retain him. Yet the order which they seek to have declared void, upon a contention that the Juvenile Court lacked jurisdiction, mentions that child to exactly the same extent as it does Debra. If the order which was made in the proceeding instituted October 20, 1953, is void as to Debra because of an alleged lack of jurisdiction on the part of the court, it is equally void as to the brother. Surely that child should have been made a party to this suit.
This being an equity proceeding, it is tried de novo in this court. In the absence of the natural parents, we cannot proceed and must dismiss. According to 39 Am Jur, Parties, p 975, § 104:
“In some classes of cases, as in equity * * * the nonjoinder of necessary parties is at no time waived, but may be taken advantage of at any time, and indeed in some instances cannot be waived, as was held in the case of a petition for a mandamus in which, if granted, the rights of a person not a party would have been materially affected. When the defect or omission is one that is beyond the reach of an amendment, the objection may be taken at any time.”
As long ago as 1891, Mr. Justice Robert Bean, in Beasley v. Shively, 20 Or 508, 26 P 846, declared:
“* * * A court may determine any controversy between the parties before it, when it can be done without prejudice to the rights of others, or by saying their rights; but where a complete determination of the controversy cannot be had without the presence of other parties, it may dismiss the complaint or cause them to be brought in, as the exigencies of the case may require. (Hill’s Code, § 41; Russell v. Clark’s Ex. 7 Cranch, 69; Young v. Cushing, 4 Biss. 456). The better practice in the circuit court is to order the necessary parties to be brought in, and that should always be done under *681ordinary circumstances. Bnt we have no snch authority, and could only in a proper case, and where the equities justify, remand the cause to the court below for that purpose. While the record before us discloses the fact that there are other parties whose rights will be materially affected by a decree in this case, their name or names nowhere appear in this record, and we do not feel authorized to remand this case to the court below for the purpose of having them made parties.”
I concur in Mr. Justice Sloan’s opinion and offer the above as additional support.