In re N. B.

I. Mootness

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s decision to dismiss this appeal as moot. The trial court did not have jurisdiction over DSS’s petition to terminate respondents’ parental rights (“TPR petition”) while the adjudication and disposition order that purportedly gave DSS legal custody over the minor child is properly pending on appeal to this Court. The entry of the TPR judgment does not render this appeal moot.

The two petitions must be considered separately in the case at bar. The first petition (“underlying petition”), from which respondents appeal, is the original petition…