A.N.F. v. D.F.

── A.N.F. v. D.F. ── Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama Date: May 01, 2026 Author: Christy Edwards Category: General Rel: May 1, 2026 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0650), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published in Southern Reporter. ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS OCTOBER TERM, 2025-2026 _________________________ CL-2025-0736 _________________________ A.N.F. v. D.F. Appeal from Lamar Juvenile Court (JU-23-107.02) EDWARDS, Judge. A.N.F. ("the mother") appeals from a judgment entered by the Lamar Juvenile Court ("the juvenile court") that adjudicated her daughter, K.R.F. ("the child"), whose date of birth is June 6, 2023, dependent and awarded the child's maternal great-grandmother, D.F. CL-2025-0736 ("the maternal great-grandmother"), sole legal and physical custody of the child. Procedural Background This is the second time these parties have been before this court. In A.N.F. v. D.F., [Ms. CL-2024-0691, June 13, 2025] ___ So. 3d ___ (Ala. Civ. App. 2025), this court dismissed the mother's appeal from a judgment entered by the juvenile court on the basis that that judgment was a void judgment because it failed to adjudicate the child as a dependent child and yet maintained the child's placement with the maternal great-grandmother. While A.N.F. was pending before this court, the maternal great- grandmother, on December 12, 2024, filed in the juvenile court a new petition, again alleging that the child was dependent and seeking ex parte relief. On December 12, 2024, the juvenile court entered an ex parte order that awarded the maternal great-grandmother pendente lite custody of the child. That ex parte order further limited the mother's visitation with the child to supervised visits every other Saturday from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., appointed a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the child, and scheduled a hearing to occur on January 30, 2 CL-2025-0736 2025. Following a hearing, the juvenile court, on February 3, 2025, entered an order that maintained the child's pendente lite placement with the maternal great-grandmother, maintained the mother's supervised visitation with the child, and scheduled a final hearing to occur on March 31, 2025. Following a continuance, the juvenile court, on August 15, 2025, conducted a trial on the maternal great-grandmother's dependency petition. On August 25, 2025, the juvenile court entered a judgment that adjudicated the child dependent, pursuant to Ala. Code 1975, § 12-15- 102(8), awarded the maternal great-grandmother legal and physical custody of the child, and awarded the mother unsupervised visitation with the child on alternating weekends, as well as certain extended holiday visitation. On September 2, 2025, the mother filed a postjudgment motion seeking to alter, amend, or vacate that portion of the juvenile court's judgment that adjudicated the child dependent because, she argued, that adjudication was not supported by clear and convincing evidence. On that same day, the mother also filed a notice of appeal to this court. The mother's appeal was held in abeyance pending the denial of her 3 CL-2025-0736 postjudgment motion by the juvenile court on September 4, 2025. See Rule 4(a)(5), Ala. R. App. P.; K.R.S. v. DeKalb Cnty. Dep't of Hum. Res., 236 So. 3d 910, 912 (Ala.