(Download) "Adoption Randolph Young and Wife V." by Supreme Court of Wisconsin * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Adoption Randolph Young and Wife V.
- Author : Supreme Court of Wisconsin
- Release Date : January 10, 1975
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 68 KB
Description
On this appeal the petitioners-appellants, Donald and Ethel Young, the maternal grandparents of Michelle and Michael (the two children sought to be adopted), seek a review of the trial court's determination denying their proposed adoption on the ground that it would not be in the best interests of the children. The mother of the children, Donna Randolph (nee Young), was killed in an automobile accident on November 6, 1971. She and her husband, Donald Randolph (who also was killed in the accident), were driving from Chicago, where they had recently moved, to visit the Youngs. Their two small children, Michelle, born January 5, 1970, and Michael, born December 21, 1970, were also injured in the accident, Michelle very severely. After the accident Michael was hospitalized for a short while and then spent time in a foster home until Judge Byron B. Conway of Wood county awarded guardianship of Michael and also of his sister Michelle (who had spent the entire intervening time since the accident in a hospital) to the respondents Diane and Lee Carron. Diane Carron was the first cousin of Donna. The guardianship was approved on January 6, 1972, and the children remained with the Carrons from that date. In September of 1972, the Youngs petitioned the county court of Washington county for the adoption of their grandchildren. The Carrons, as guardians, did not initiate their own petition for adoption. The court considered the matter extensively, hearing testimony from various parties, including the Youngs, the Carrons, a psychiatrist and a social worker for the Department of Health and Social Services. The court received adverse recommendations from a social worker for the Department of Health & Social Services and the guardian ad litem, William Alderson. The Youngs, who have been married for thirty years, live on a farm near Phillips. They own 323 acres of land. Although the couple does some farming, Mr. Young is employed full time at Evans Products Company, located in Phillips. Mr. Young was fifty-nine years of age at the time of the adoption hearing and Mrs. Young was fifty. They are presently raising another child of Donna, Donald, Jr., whom they have adopted. Two other children of Donna, by a previous marriage, are staying with their father. Appellants contend that the trial court's denial of adoption contravenes the legal rights of the grandparents who stand in the legal shoes of the deceased parents and have the right to the award of the adoption in the absence of a finding that they are unfit. Appellants also contend that the trial court erred in determining that adoption by the Youngs was not in the children's best interests. We conclude that both of these contentions are without merit and that the order of the trial court must be affirmed.