Meredith v. Smith

COBB, Judge.

The Merediths appeal the trial court’s order awarding temporary legal custody to the Smiths based on a finding that their daughter, Denise Meredith, was a dependent and abandoned child, and the trial court’s issuance of an income deduction order. We reverse.

Sixteen-year-old Denise Meredith1 filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services in January, 1986, accusing her mother of abuse. Thereafter, Denise’s parents, Oren and Ramona Meredith, feeling they were unable to control their daughter’s behavior, allowed Denise to live with her married sister and…