Guardianship of J.T. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-061-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11882 GUARDIANSHIP OF J.T. May 4, 2016. Moot Question. Practice, Civil, Moot case, Assistance of counsel. Probate Court, Guardian. This case is before us on a report from a judge in the Probate and Family Court. It concerns a guardianship of a minor child pursuant to G. L. c. 190B. Specifically, the question is whether an indigent parent who petitions to remove a guardian and regain custody of her child, or to establish visitation with the child, has a right to counsel on those petitions. We discharge the report as moot. The guardian was appointed in accordance with G. L. c. 190B, § 5-206, in May, 2014. The mother, who was not represented by counsel, consented to the appointment of the guardian. In March, 2015, the mother filed a petition to remove the guardian, see G. L. c. 190B, § 5-212, alleging that she was “presently fit and able to resume care of the child.” She also filed an application for the appointment of counsel to represent her in the removal proceeding. Several days later she filed a separate petition requesting “the opportunity to have visitation with” the child. (The guardianship decree had no provision for visitation.) A judge in the Probate and Family Court denied the mother’s request for counsel and reported this interlocutory ruling to the Appeals Court. We transferred the case to this court on our own motion.[1],[2] While the case has been pending here, the mother and the guardian mediated and resolved the underlying matter in the trial court. A decree has been entered terminating the guardianship, the child has been returned to the custody of the mother, and a separate petition that the guardian had filed to adopt the child has been dismissed by agreement.[3] The judge’s interlocutory report has been rendered moot by the resolution of the underlying case. There is no need to address the issues further in this case. Essentially the same issues are raised and addressed in L.B. v. Chief Justice of the Probate & Family Court Dep’t, 474 Mass. (2016), which we also decide today. Although the matter is moot, we have carefully considered the mother’s brief as an amicus brief in the L.B. case. Report discharged as moot. Susan M. Finegan (Geoffrey A. Friedman & Sandra J. Badin with her) for the mother. Jamie Ann Sabino, Susan R. Elsen, […]