Adoption of A.G. CA3

Filed 3/8/23 Adoption of A.G. CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

Adoption of A.G., a Minor. C096060

B.G., (Super. Ct. No. 21AD00088)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

T.H.,

Defendant and Appellant.

T.H. (mother) appeals from a family court judgment terminating her parental rights as to the minor. (Fam. Code, § 7822.)1 Mother contends the family court (1) did not comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.), (2) erred in finding she abandoned the minor within the meaning of section 7822, and (3) erred in finding termination of parental rights was in the minor’s best interest. Agreeing with mother’s ICWA claim, we will reverse and remand to the family court.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Family Code.

1

BACKGROUND Mother and R.G. (father) were in a relationship when mother gave birth to the minor in 2014. The parents were never married and when they separated in June 2016, the minor was almost three years old. They obtained a shared custody agreement soon thereafter. Father began a relationship with B.G. (stepmother) and the two were married in 2018. Father and stepmother became concerned about the minor’s well-being when the minor returned to them from mother’s house and made comments pertaining to domestic violence and sexual abuse. On March 14, 2018, following a custody evaluation, the family court issued a new custody order granting father temporary full physical and legal custody of the minor, with compliance, progress, and possible modifications to be considered after three months. The family court ordered the parents to schedule drug testing and individual therapy, and to preserve the parent/child relationship by, among other things, maintaining free access and unhampered contact with the minor. In addition, the family court ordered that mother have professionally supervised visitation with the minor twice a week. Mother had no supervised visits with the minor in the next three years. Her last contact with the minor was Mother’s Day 2018. Mother called father and texted him a handful of times, but father did not allow mother to speak with the minor. Mother made some child support payments to father, but stopped doing so after January 2020. On June 23, 2021, stepmother filed an adoption request seeking to adopt the minor as a stepparent. The request alleged that mother abandoned the minor by leaving the child in father’s care and custody for one year or longer without providing for the minor’s support or without communication from mother and with the intent to abandon the minor. On September 22, 2021, stepmother filed a petition to declare the minor free from the parental custody and control of mother. Father consented in writing to the petition. Father and stepmother both completed parental notification of Indian status (ICWA-020)