Shayne Blackaby v. Nancy Barnes
2020 SC 0004
| Ky. | Jan 20, 2021Background
- Shayne Blackaby (paternal grandfather) had an established, regular visitation relationship with his granddaughter K.N.B.; visits continued through an adoption proceeding and were stopped by the adoptive grandmother in June 2018.
- K.N.B.’s father, Timothy (Blackaby’s son), was incarcerated and contested an adoption by the child’s maternal grandmother, Nancy Barnes; Timothy died before the adoption was finalized.
- Barnes’s adoption of K.N.B. was finalized October 23, 2017; Blackaby was not a party to the confidential adoption proceeding and received no notice.
- After Barnes terminated visitation, Blackaby filed for grandparent visitation under KRS 405.021; the family court dismissed for lack of standing (relying on Hicks v. Enlow), and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
- The Kentucky Supreme Court held the statutory scheme and Hicks did not contemplate this intra-family grandparent adoption fact pattern, extended the Hicks stepparent exception to these circumstances, reversed the Court of Appeals, and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the child’s best interests.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a grandparent loses statutory standing to seek visitation after an intra-family adoption by another grandparent | Blackaby: KRS 405.021 should not automatically extinguish his visitation given his established relationship and lack of notice; statute must protect such preexisting ties | Barnes: Adoption severs legal ties under KRS 199.520 and Hicks; no prior court-ordered visitation, so no protected right post-adoption | Court: Adoption does not automatically defeat Blackaby’s claim; remanded for best-interest hearing — standing not foreclosed here |
| Whether the Hicks stepparent-adoption exception applies to grandparent-to-grandparent adoptions | Blackaby: Public policy and statutory gaps justify extending Hicks to intra-family grandparent adoptions to protect child’s ties | Barnes: Hicks is limited to stepparent adoptions and should not be expanded | Court: Extended the Hicks exception to this factual context and applied it here |
| Whether Blackaby preserved the visitation issue for appeal and proper standard of review | Blackaby: His petition and affidavit sufficiently alerted the family court and preserved the issue; factual findings reviewed for clear error; statutory questions reviewed de novo | Barnes/Ct. of Appeals: Blackaby failed to file post-judgment motions, so appellate review should be for palpable error | Court: Issue was preserved; reviewed facts for clear error and legal interpretation de novo |
| Whether remand for an evidentiary hearing on best interests was required | Blackaby: An evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine preexisting relationship and whether continued visitation serves the child’s best interests | Barnes: If standing is lacking, no hearing needed | Court: Remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether visitation is in the child’s best interests |
Key Cases Cited
- Hicks v. Enlow, 764 S.W.2d 68 (Ky. 1989) (held termination of parental rights terminates grandparents' visitation except for a carved-out stepparent-adoption exception)
- Pinto v. Robison, 607 S.W.3d 669 (Ky. 2020) (held portions of KRS 405.021 unconstitutional)
- Commonwealth v. Moore, 545 S.W.3d 848 (Ky. 2018) (statutory interpretation — plain meaning rule)
- Walker v. Blair, 382 S.W.3d 862 (Ky. 2012) (standard of review for family-court factual findings)
- E.D. v. Commonwealth, Cabinet for Health & Family Servs., 152 S.W.3d 261 (Ky. Ct. App. 2004) (discussing legislative amendment to KRS 405.021 balancing finality and grandparent visitation)
- Dotson v. Rowe, 957 S.W.2d 269 (Ky. Ct. App. 1997) (supporting the view that severing grandparent ties without best-interest inquiry is improper)