Boykin v. Parkhurst ex rel. Boykin

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment against a petition seeking appointment of a guardian and conservator for Nina H. Parkhurst, who had executed durable powers of attorney naming her son Randall Boykin as attorney-in-fact and health care agent. The court held that appointing a guardian ad litem to investigate alleged necessity did not decide the necessity issue or invoke the law-of-the-case doctrine. It also dismissed the guardian ad litem’s separate appeal for lack of standing, concluding that the record did not establish a present necessity for a guardian or conservator.

Holdings

1. The guardian ad litem lacked standing to appeal the summary judgment because he was appointed to investigate and report to the district court, had no personal stake in the controversy, and was not a party.
2. The district court's decision to appoint a guardian ad litem did not decide that appointment of a guardian or conservator was necessary and therefore did not preclude later summary judgment on the necessity issue.
3. Summary judgment for Randall was proper because the record contained no genuine issue of material fact showing a present necessity for appointing a guardian or conservator.
4. The governing Wyoming statutes do not authorize appointment of a guardian or conservator solely to impose an additional accountability mechanism where no present necessity for appointment has been established.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court's order appointing a guardian ad litem decided the necessity of appointing a guardian or conservator and therefore became binding under the law-of-the-case doctrine.
2. Whether genuine issues of material fact existed concerning the necessity for appointment of a guardian or conservator.
3. Whether the guardian ad litem had standing to appeal the district court's summary judgment order.

Disposition

affirmed