Matter of the Guardianship of S.M.

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s appointment of Chris Sheehan as guardian of S.M. The court held that Valery O’Connell waived her challenge to the original guardianship appointment by failing to appeal immediately as required by Montana appellate procedure. The court also declined to further consider her later petition to remove the guardian because it was based on the untimely challenge to the original appointment.

Holdings

1. An order in a guardianship matter must be appealed immediately, and failure to do so waives the right to appeal. Because O’Connell waited until September 2013 to appeal the November 2012 appointment order, she waived review of the propriety of Sheehan’s appointment.
2. The court declined to consider O’Connell’s later petition to remove Sheehan because it was grounded on the waived argument that the original appointment was erroneous.
3. A petition to appoint a guardian is not an adversarial proceeding but is conducted to promote the best interests of the person for whom guardianship is sought; guardian-appointment legal conclusions are reviewed for correctness and factual findings for clear error.

Questions Presented

1. Whether O’Connell timely appealed the district court’s November 2012 order appointing Sheehan as guardian.
2. Whether the Montana Supreme Court should review O’Connell’s July 17, 2013 combined petition to replace the guardian and motion for relief under Montana Rule of Civil Procedure 60.
3. Whether the district court’s appointment of Sheehan as guardian was supported by the applicable law and evidence.

Disposition

affirmed