T.H. v. A.S.

BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

Joela and Frank are orphaned refugees from the African nation of Burundi.1 They immigrated to the United States in 1991 with an aunt and a cousin, and lived with those relatives as a family until the aunt’s death. After the aunt’s death, two competing petitions were filed requesting appointment as guardians and conservators of the children. One was filed by the children’s Rwandan uncle, Abel. The other was filed by an unrelated American couple, Tom and Sally, who had befriended the family. The trial court sustained the petition of the American couple and appointed them…