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ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS Kelly R. Eskew Clarian Health Partners Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES Mary Jane Norman Margaret Lois Jansen Indianapolis, Indiana

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Indiana Supreme Court
_________________________________ No. 49S02-1006-CV-330 IN RE ADOPTION OF L.D. A.B. AND N.E.,

In the

FILED
Dec 16 2010, 2:46 pm
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

Appellants (Respondents below), v. JO.D. AND JA.D., Appellees (Petitioners below). _________________________________ Appeal from the Marion Superior Court, No. 49D04-0708-AD-35277 The Honorable Cynthia Ayers, Judge _________________________________ On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 49A02-0907-CV-671 _________________________________ December 16, 2010 Sullivan, Justice. A court approved a child's paternal grandparents' request to adopt the child without the child's mother's knowledge. Although the paternal grandparents did publish notice, they did not perform a diligent search reasonably calculated to determine the mother's whereabouts before doing so. As such, the mother did not receive the notice of the adoption proceedings required by law.

Background On March 1, 2003, Mother gave birth to a baby boy ("Child"). At the time, she was unmarried and incarcerated. A coworker of Mother, N.E., assisted at birth and within a few weeks, a court appointed N.E. to be Child's guardian. Soon thereafter, a court paternity proceeding determined the identity of Child's Father. Father's adoptive parents ("Paternal Grandparents") took an immediate interest in Child , and in August, 2003, they filed a petition in court to adopt Child. They mailed notices of the filing of the petition to N.E. and to Mother. More than a year later

Download Adoption of L.D.; A.B. and N.E. v. Jo.D. and Ja.D..pdf

Indiana Law