Guardianship of C.E.

Filed 1/31/19 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

Guardianship of C.E., a Minor. H045427 (Santa Cruz County Super. Ct. No. 16PR00175) S.H.,

Petitioner and Appellant,

v.

M.M. et al.,

Objectors and Respondents. Appellant S.H.1 appeals the trial court’s order denying her petition to remove Respondents B.M. and M.M.2 as guardians of her nephew, C.E., and to name her as C.E.’s guardian. Appellant raises five challenges to the order on appeal: the trial court erred when it failed to consolidate the guardianship action with the adoption proceeding; the judge assigned to the guardianship proceedings “sabotage[d]” her adoption petition and prejudged the petition for removal of the guardians; the assigned judge should have disqualified himself under Code of Civil Procedure section 170.1; the trial court misinterpreted Probate Code section 2650; and the trial court abused its discretion by denying the petition to remove Respondents as guardians. We agree the court erred in

1 Appellant filed the proceedings in the trial court, and noticed this appeal, with her husband, A.H. A.H. passed away before briefing in the instant appeal, leaving Appellant as the sole appellant. 2 To protect the privacy of the minor child, we refer to the parties as Appellant, Respondent B., and Respondent M. (or Respondents when referencing them jointly), and the minor child and other witnesses by initials.

failing to consolidate the guardianship into the adoption proceeding, resulting in prejudice to Appellant. We reverse the order accordingly. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY A. Initial Guardianship Petition C.E., age three at the time of the relevant hearing, is the biological child of D.W. (Mother) and J.E. (Father). While Mother was alive, her family and friends were actively involved in C.E.’s life. Appellant is Mother’s sister. Appellant cared for C.E. on Mondays and every other weekend. C.E. also spent significant time with Mother’s mother, L.F. (Grandmother), and Mother’s sister, T.W. Respondent B. was Mother’s close friend, and was considered by Mother’s family to be like a sister to Mother although they were not biologically related. Respondent B. spent a great deal of time with C.E. before Mother’s death. The family was also close with C.E.’s half-brother, Mother’s older son from a prior relationship. Mother passed away as a result of a drowning accident in August 2015 that was witnessed by Appellant and other family members. After Mother’s death, C.E. initially lived with Father; he also spent time with Respondents. Appellant, Respondent B., and the rest of Mother’s family continued to be involved in C.E.’s life on a day-to-day basis. Over time, Appellant, Respondent B., and the family became concerned about Father’s ability to parent C.E. Father was the subject of a domestic violence restraining order involving his children from a prior relationship. The parties, with the support of the rest of Mother’s family and other close friends, determined Respondents should petition to be C.E.’s guardians, thus removing him from Father’s care. Respondents filed their guardianship petition in April 2016. Appellant, T.W., Grandmother, and a family friend submitted statements to the court in support of Respondents’ petition. Father opposed the petition. In May 2016, the trial court granted temporary guardianship of C.E. to Respondents and subsequently conducted a hearing on Respondents’ petition. Although 2