## Facts

- A child was born in 1992 to Angela Austin Harris; no father was listed on the birth certificate.
- From the child’s birth until April 1998, Harris and the child lived in the home of Brenda Penland (the child’s maternal grandmother) and Brenda’s husband, David Penland.
- The Penlands alleged they acted in parental roles and provided food, health care, private schooling, and a stable home while Harris earned a nursing degree.
- In April 1998, Harris married and moved with the child to her husband’s apartment.
- The Penlands alleged their contact with the child became very limited and harmful to the child’s well-being.
- The Penlands filed an action seeking joint custody and an ex parte order awarding them custody pending a hearing.
- Harris moved to dismiss for lack of standing.

## Issues

1. Whether the Penlands had standing under North Carolina’s grandparent custody/visitation statutes absent an existing custody dispute, a prior custody determination, or an adoption by a stepparent/relative.
2. Whether allegations that grandparents served in parent-like roles and could provide a better environment establish standing under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.1(a) to seek custody/visitation against a fit parent based on the child’s best interests.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) for lack of standing.
- The specific grandparent statutes did not apply because there was no ongoing custody dispute, no prior custody order, and no qualifying adoption.
- The general custody statute permitting actions by a “parent, relative, or other person” did not permit grandparents to seek custody/visitation from a fit parent based only on best-interests allegations, without pleading parental unfitness or conduct inconsistent with protected parental rights.

## Legal Principles

- Grandparent standing to seek custody or visitation is limited to circumstances authorized by statute, and the statutory predicates must be present.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.1(a) is constrained by a fit parent’s constitutionally protected right to the care, custody, and control of the child.
- A non-parent cannot obtain custody or court-ordered visitation over a fit parent’s objection based solely on a “best interests of the child” theory; allegations of parental unfitness or conduct inconsistent with parental status are required.

## Conclusion

The court held that grandparents who previously provided substantial caregiving lacked standing to pursue custody or visitation against a fit mother where no grandparent-statute prerequisites applied and the complaint alleged no parental unfitness or constitutionally inconsistent parental conduct.


Penland v. Harris, 520 S.E.2d 105 (N.C. Ct. App. 1999)