In re Jacklyn F

In In re Jacklyn F. (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 747, a mother left her child with paternal grandparents three days before they filed a guardianship petition, which the mother unsuccessfully contested and then did not have contact with the child for over a year. (Id. at pp. 749-750.) Jacklyn F. noted, it did 'not discount the possibility that, under different circumstances, it might be proper to conclude that a parent has "left" a child within the meaning of section 7822 despite court intervention,' but found that the matter on review was 'not such a case.' (Jacklyn F., supra, 114 Cal.App.4th at p. 756.) That was so because, 'once the guardianship was granted, the mother was no longer legally entitled to custody of the minor without further court order' and the mother's 'conduct following the granting of the guardianship--which included sending "stacks" of letters to the minor but failing to visit her--did not constitute "parental nonaction" amounting to a leaving.' (Ibid.)