Guardianship of G.R.M. ( 2021 )

04/13/2021
DA 20-0403
Case Number: DA 20-0403
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
2021 MT 91N
IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF:
G.R.M.,
A Minor Child,
DIANA R. MERIDETH and KENNETH M. MERIDETH,
Petitioners, Appellees, and Cross Appellants.
________________________________________
IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF:
G.R.M.,
A Minor Child,
CAROL M. MERIDETH,
Petitioner and Appellant.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Sixth Judicial District,
In and For the County of Park, Cause No. DG-20-08
Honorable Brenda R. Gilbert, Presiding Judge
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellant:
Kevin S. Brown, Erin E. Harris, Paoli & Brown, P.C., Livingston, Montana
For Appellee:
Sherine D. Blackford, Monica E. Payne, Blackford Carls P.C., Bozeman,
Montana
Submitted on Briefs: March 24, 2021
Decided: April 13, 2021
Filed:
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__________________________________________
Clerk
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Justice Beth Baker delivered the Opinion of the Court.
¶1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating
Rules, we decide this case by memorandum opinion. It shall not be cited and does not
serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this
Court’s quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana
Reports.
¶2 Carol Merideth appeals the Sixth Judicial District Court’s orders awarding
temporary guardianship of her two stepchildren to their paternal grandparents, Diana
Merideth and Kenneth Merideth. Diana and Kenneth cross-appeal the court’s failure to
make the guardianship order a permanent one and its award to Carol, in the same order, of
a right to visitation with the children at certain established times.
¶3 G.R.M. is the six-year-old daughter of Joshua Merideth and Allison Merideth.
G.R.M. has a ten-year-old brother, J.S.M., who is the subject of a companion appeal under
this Court’s Cause No. DA 20-0402. The children’s father died in June 2020, leaving
behind a Last Will and Testament that contained a testamentary appointment of his wife
Carol for their guardianship. Carol and Diana and Kenneth filed competing petitions for
guardianship, which the District Court consolidated. After Allison appeared in the
guardianship proceeding and consented to Diana and Kenneth’s appointment, the District
Court entered Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and an order appointing Diana and
Kenneth temporary guardians and conservators and giving Carol specified parenting time
with the children on alternating weekends.
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¶4 Carol’s appeal, as well as Diana and Kenneth’s cross-appeal, raise the same issues
they raise in J.S.M.’s companion appeal, which we have decided today by separate opinion.
Matter of J.S.M., 2021 MT 86, ___ Mont. ____, ___ P.3d ___. We adopt our analysis in
that case and decide this case pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c) of our Internal Operating
Rules, which provides for memorandum opinions.
¶5 For the reasons stated in Matter of J.S.M., we conclude that the District Court did
not abuse its discretion when it issued an order appointing Diana and Kenneth as G.R.M.’s
temporary guardians and maintained their contact with Carol during the pendency of the
proceedings. We therefore affirm the Order Appointing Temporary Guardians and
Conservators.
/S/ BETH BAKER
We Concur:
/S/ JAMES JEREMIAH SHEA
/S/ DIRK M. SANDEFUR
/S/ LAURIE McKINNON
/S/ INGRID GUSTAFSON
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