In Re Salvador M.

4 Cal.Rptr.3d 705 (2003) 111 Cal.App.4th 1353 In re SALVADOR M., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

Kern County Department of Human Services, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

Monica G., Defendant and Appellant.

No. F042652. Court of Appeal, Fifth District.

August 14, 2003. [706] Linda J. Conrad, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

B.C. Barmann, Sr., County Counsel, and Jennifer L. Thurston, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

THE COURT.[*]

Appellant Monica G. challenges the juvenile court's denial of her motions for presumed mother status and de facto parent status as to her half-brother Salvador. We conclude the juvenile court erred in finding she was not Salvador's presumed mother and grant relief on that basis.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS

Appellant is the adult half-sister of Salvador, the subject of the instant juvenile proceedings. Appellant was living with her mother, Rosa, in September 1994 when Rosa gave birth to Salvador. At the time, appellant was 18 years old with a one-year-old daughter of her own, Maria. Salvador's father was a married man and Rosa never identified him to the family. She revealed only his first name, "Juan," and the city where he lived. Together, appellant and Rosa cared for both infants. Appellant treated Salvador as if he were her own son and even breast-fed him when Rosa could no longer do so.

In 1997, Rosa died in an explosive car crash. Appellant continued to care for then three-year-old Salvador in her home. In October 2000, appellant gave birth to Luis and continued to raise the three children as her own. Salvador believed appellant was his mother and that Maria and Luis were his brother and sister. The only people who knew differently were appellant's family and the officials where Salvador attended school. Appellant never obtained legal custody of Salvador.