State ex rel. S.O. v. S.O.

STEPHAN, Judge.

F.R. petitioned the trial court for an order that would declare him to be the natural father and principal custodian of S.O., a female chiid bom out-of-wedlock to E.O. on May 21, 1977. S.O.’s maternal grandmother, S.O.,1 answered the petition, denying F.R. was the child’s father. Asserting she had had de facto custody of the child since E.O.’s death on July 1, 1983, she cross-petitioned, asking the court to award custody *603of S.O. to her. The issues of paternity and custody were tried to the court separately. F.R. prevailed on each. Grandmother appeals. We reverse.

I

In her first…