DeBoer v. Schmidt

These two related cases arise out of a child custody dispute involving the competing claims of the child’s natural parents (Cara and Daniel Schmidt) and the third-party custodians with whom the child now lives (Roberta and Jan DeBoer).

While we will deal at length with the various arguments marshaled in support of their claims, we sum up our analysis of the competing arguments by reference to the words of the United States Supreme Court: "No one would seriously dispute that a deeply loving and interdependent relationship with an adult and a child in his or her care may exist even in the…