SUZANNE J. v. Superior Court

Opinion

SILLS, P. J.

This petition concerns eight-year-old Allen, six-year-old Kyle, and four-year-old Amanda S., who were declared dependent minors of the juvenile court on August 30, 1994. At the contested 12-month review hearing on December 5-6, 1995, the court found reasonable reunification services had been provided, ordered them terminated, and scheduled a selection and implementation hearing pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26. The public defender, acting on behalf of Suzanne J., the mother, filed a petition for extraordinary writ relief which challenged the order setting the selection and implementation hearing and barring any visitation between Suzanne and the minors pending the hearing. (See Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26, subd. (l).)

The social services agency argues we must dismiss the petition because Suzanne did not sign it, and there is no evidence she consented to its filing or continues to assert parental rights to the minors.

1

(See

Guillermo G.

v.

Superior Court

(1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1168, 1174 [39 Cal.Rptr.2d 748].) On its face, the record supports that assertion. Suzanne’s trial attorney signed the notice of intent and listed Suzanne’s address as “unknown.” Her attorney then signed the petition and verification under penalty of perjury stating, without explanation, that Suzanne was “not available” to sign the verification. Furthermore, reunification services were in part terminated because Suzanne had not complied with her service plan and had, as the court noted, “been absent for months.”

Under rule 39.1B(f) of the California Rules of Court, a person wishing to review an order setting a selection and implementation hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 must file a notice of intent within seven days of the date of the order setting the hearing. Like notices of

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appeal, notices of intent are to be construed liberally in favor of their sufficiency. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1(a).) And we will “assume counsel had the necessary authority” to sign the notice of intent on behalf of the client in the “absence of a satisfactory showing” the client did not authorize counsel to sign it.