Timothy Whaley, Appellant v. Pam and Don Beckham, Appellees

Summary

The court held that the appeal was properly before it despite arising from a temporary guardianship because the governing statute permits an appeal from an order appointing a temporary guardian. Although the temporary guardianship had expired, the Beckhams' intervention remained effective in the ongoing guardianship proceeding, so the intervention issue was not moot. Applying the permissive-intervention standard, the court held that the Beckhams' longstanding care for Shepherd established a common question of fact with the guardianship proceeding and affirmed the circuit court, while vacating the substituted court-of-appeals opinion. Justice Hart, dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal as moot and would have held that the Beckhams lacked a sufficient right or interest to intervene.