In re U.A.C.
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The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Foster Parents' motion to intervene in an abuse of neglect proceeding, holding that abandonment must be alleged before a foster parent is allowed to intervene pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. 41-3-422(9)(b).
The Department of Public Health and Human Services removed two Indian children for physical neglect and placed them with Foster Parents for three years. The Department later submitted an Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children for the younger child to be placed with her grandmother in Virginia. Foster Parents opposed the placement and filed a motion to intervene. The district court denied intervention, concluding that Foster Parents as a matter of law did not have a right to intervene. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) because section 41-3-422(9)(b) precludes intervention in cases where the Department has not alleged abandonment, the district court did not err in denying Foster Parents' motion to intervene; and (2) Foster Parents were statutorily precluded from asserting a nonparent interest in the parent-child relationship while the proceedings remained pending.
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