State of Utah, in the interest of M.M.

----ooOoo----

State of Utah, in the interest of M.M., a person under eighteen years of age.
______________________________

S.J.,
Appellant,

v.

State of Utah,
Appellee.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)

Case No. 990423-CA

F I L E D
May 25, 2000 2000 UT App 151 ----

Third District Juvenile, Salt Lake Department
The Honorable Charles D. Behrens

Attorneys:
Loren M. Lambert, Midvale, for Appellant
Jan Graham and John Peterson, Salt Lake City, for Appellee
Martha Pierce, Salt Lake City, Guardian Ad Litem -----

Before Judges Jackson, Bench, and Davis.
BENCH, Judge:

Appellant, the maternal grandmother of M.M., argues that the juvenile court erred in dismissing her Petition to Set Aside Adoption Decree (Petition). Appellant's Petition, brought pursuant to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), sought to have the adoption order set aside because the State "fraudulently misrepresented [her daughter's] competency to voluntarily relinquish her parental rights and consent to her child's adoption."

We do not reach the merits of appellant's argument. Appellant did not have standing to bring her Petition in the juvenile court because she "did not assert [her] claim to the child[] by filing an adoption petition." J.N. v. State, 2000 UT App 73,¶18, 997 P.2d 345. Consequently, appellant also lacks standing to bring this appeal from the juvenile court's order dismissing her Petition. See In re H.J., 1999 UT App 238,¶18, 986 P.2d 115 ("Grandmother was not a party to the proceedings below and did not have a protectible legal interest affected by the court's ruling; therefore, she has no standing to appeal the termination of [her daughter's] parental rights."). Because appellant lacks standing, we have no basis to consider the merits of her appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal.(1)
 
 
 
 

______________________________
Russell W. Bench, Judge -----

WE CONCUR:
 
 
 
 
 

______________________________
Norman H. Jackson,
Associate Presiding Judge
 
 
 
 
 

______________________________
James Z. Davis, Judge

1. If we were to reach the merits of this appeal, we would affirm the juvenile court's decision because the Petition was clearly not timely filed. See Utah R. Civ. P. 60(b).