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Dell v. Dell

The trial court's order terminating the mother's parental rights and granting the stepmother's adoption petition was deficient.

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This appeal arises from Dwain and Sarah Dell’s petition for the termination of Leah M. Dibello Dell’s parental rights to her natural child, and stepmother Sarah Dell’s petition to adopt the child. The juvenile court sitting by designation in the superior court terminated Leah Dell’s parental rights and granted Sarah’s adoption petition. Leah Dell appeals, contending that 1 the evidence did not support the termination of her parental rights; 2 she was denied her right to competent legal counsel; 3 she was discouraged from appealing her case; and 4 she was not provided with a copy of the final judgment. For the reasons that follow, we vacate and remand to the superior court.

On appeal from an order terminating parental rights based on an adoption petition, we construe the evidence favorably to the trial court’s ruling and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the biological parent’s rights to custody have been lost. We do not weigh the evidence or assess witness credibility, but defer to the trial court’s factual findings and affirm unless this standard is not met.

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