Guardianship of A.N.
After a bench trial, the probate court granted guardianship of minor, A.N., to her maternal grandparents over her father’s objection. She was six years old at the time. The court subsequently acknowledged that it relied on inadmissible hearsay and did not believe there had been “a fair hearing.†The court purported to grant the father’s request for “reconsideration†(Code Civ. Proc., § 1008) of the guardianship order. The court ordered another hearing at which the parties were permitted to call witnesses who did not testify at the initial trial. After this second hearing, the court declined to alter its prior order granting guardianship. Father appeals from the initial order granting guardianship after the first trial, and two postjudgment orders regarding attorney fees.
We conclude that the admission of improper evidence at the initial trial was prejudicial. We further conclude that the court’s order granting “reconsideration†was in fact an extrajurisdictional order for a new trial. We therefore reverse the order granting guardianship.
We reject father’s attacks on the postjudgment attorney fees orders.
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