Pippinger v. Benson
Annotate this CaseStepmother filed a petition to adopt her stepson, J.P., whose biological mother had died. The same day the petition for adoption was filed, J.P.'s Father filed a consent to the adoption and waiver of appearance. J.P.'s Grandmother and Great-Grandmother subsequently filed a motion to intervene and a third-party petition for grandparent and great-grandparent visitation. The circuit court denied Stepmother's petition to adopt and granted visitation of J.P. to Grandmother and Great-Grandmother. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the circuit court's decision to grant Grandmother and Great-Grandmother's motion to intervene; (2) reversed the circuit court's order for grandparent and great-grandparent visitation, holding that the court clearly erred in finding that Grandmother and Great-Grandmother had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the loss of the relationship between them and J.P. was likely to harm J.P; and (3) affirmed the circuit court's denial of the petition for adoption where it properly found that adoption was not currently in J.P.'s best interest.
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