J.B. and K.B. (hereinafter collectively referred to as “the custodians”) are the custodians of B.M.F.M. (“the child”), who was placed in their custody by a December 15, 2011, order of the Jackson Juvenile Court (“the juvenile court”). In April 2013, the custodians filed in the juvenile court a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child’s mother, P.M. (“the mother”).
On March 13, 2014, the custodians’ petition seeking to adopt the child was granted by the Jackson Probate Court. The custodians then moved in the juvenile court to dismiss the maternal grandmother’s “motion to intervene,” which, as previously noted, had been granted in July 2013. The juvenile court held a hearing on the maternal grandmother’s custody-modification petition on April 1, 2014. On April 10, 2014, the juvenile court entered a judgment denying the maternal grandmother’s custody-modification petition but awarding the maternal grandmother unsupervised overnight visitation on alternating weekends. The custodians filed a postjudgment motion directed to the judgment on April 18, 2014; the juvenile court purported to enter an order denying the motion on May 6, 2014, but the motion had been denied by operation of law on May 2, 2014. See Rule 1(B), Ala. R. Juv. P.; Rule 59.1, Ala. R. Civ. P. On May 8, 2014, the custodians filed a timely appeal from the denial by operation of law of their postjudgment motion.
While the appeal was pending, the maternal grandmother moved the probate court to have the adoption judgment set aside. The probate court transferred the maternal grandmother’s motion to the juvenile court, which assigned the maternal grandmother’s motion case no. JU-11-151.03 and held a hearing on that motion on June 26, 2014. After the hearing, the juvenile court entered an order in case no. JU-11-151.03 on July 2, 2014, setting aside the adoption judgment on the ground that the adoption judgment was void for lack of due process because the maternal grandmother had not been served with the adoption petition as required by Ala.Code 1975, § 26-10A-17(a)(6), which states that pen-dency of an adoption proceeding shall be served on “[a]ny person known to the petitioners as having physical custody, excluding licensed foster care or other private licensed agencies or having visitation rights with the adoptee under an existing court order.” The custodians did not appeal the juvenile court’s judgment in case no. JU-11-151.03.
On appeal, the custodians make five arguments. They first argue that the juvenile court could not award the maternal grandmother visitation because their adoption of the child was not a relative adoption that would qualify for an award of grandparent visitation under Ala.Code 1975, § 26-10A-30. They further argue that the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to set aside the adoption judgment in case no. JU-11-151.03 and that its decision to do so was error because, they contend, § 26-10A-17(a)(6) did not require that the custodians serve notice of the adoption proceeding on the maternal grandmother. The custodians further rely on Troxel v. Granville,
We turn now to the custodians’ argument that the juvenile court was prohibited from awarding the maternal grandmother visitation because J.B. -is a second cousin to the child and not one of the relatives specified in § 26-10A-30, which provides for visitation rights for grandparents when a child is adopted by certain specified relatives.
Furthermore, as noted, the adoption judgment has been set aside as void. “ ‘As a nullity, a void judgment has no effect....’” M.H v. Jer. W.,
The custodians further contend that the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Troxel should bar the judgment of the juvenile court awarding the maternal grandmother visitation with the child. Of course, because the adoption judgment has been determined to be void, that judgment is a nullity and the custodians are not, as they claim to be, parents. M.H.,
Finally, the custodians argue generally that the evidence does not support the conclusion that unsupervised visitation with the maternal grandmother is in the best interest of the child. “[T]he visitation rights of ... grandparents are a matter generally entrusted to the discretion of the trial court.” Snipes v. Carr,
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the juvenile court awarding the maternal grandmother visitation.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
. The petition also sought to terminate the parental rights of the legal father of the child and of an alleged father of the child.
. We note that the maternal grandmother’s petition was, in actuality, a petition seeking a modification of the December 2011 custody order awarding the custodians custody of the child. Ex parte S.L.M.,
. The rights of the legal father and of the alleged father of the child were terminated in a previous judgment. See supra note 1.
. Section 26-10A-30 reads:
"Post-adoption visitation rights for the natural grandparents of the adoptee may be granted when the adoptee is adopted by a stepparent, a grandfather, a grandmother, a brother, a half-brother, a sister, a half-sister, an aunt or an uncle and their respective spouses, if any. Such visitation rights may be maintained or granted at the discretion of the court at any time prior to or after the final order of adoption is entered upon petition by the natural grandparents, if it is in the best interest of the child."
. Section 12-15-115(a)(10) states that juvenile courts have original jurisdiction in "[pjroceedings to establish grandparent visitation when filed as part of a juvenile court case involving the same child.” Section 30-3-4.1(c) reads as "follows:
“Any grandparent may intervene in and seek to obtain visitation rights in any action when any court in this state has before it any question concerning the" custody of a minor child, a divorce .proceeding of the parents or a parent of the minor child, or a termination of the parental rights proceeding of either parent of the minor child, provided the termination of párental rights is for the purpose of adoption pursuant to Sections 26-10Ar27, 26-10A-28, or 26-10A-30, dealing with stepparent or relative adoption. If the termination of parental rights is for the purpose of adoption, and the potential adoptive parent or parents are not stepparents or relatives, the grandparent may intervene in the action for the purpose of seeking to obtain visitation, provided that the grandparent has an established relationship with the child. The right of the grandparent to seek visitation terminates if the court approves a petition for adoption by an adoptive parent who is not a stepparent or a biological relative of the child.”
. We note that the judgment places restrictions on the maternal grandmother’s visitation to prevent the child from being exposed to the mother or to unrelated persons during visitations, which restrictions address the custodians’ expressed concerns that the child might be exposed to the 'mother or persons other than her immediate relatives while visiting with the maternal grandmother.
