In Re KC

The question before us in this dependency case is whether a father whose parental rights have been terminated (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26, subd. (c)), [1] and who does not challenge that decision, has standing to appeal an order entered at the same hearing denying a petition by the dependent child's grandparents to have the child placed with them (§§ 361.3, 366.26, subd. (k), 388). We hold the father does not have standing to appeal the order concerning placement.

Only the question of standing is before us. We have no occasion to review the merits of the superior court's order denying the petition concerning placement (§ 388) or the judgment terminating parental rights (§ 366.26, subd. (c)). Accordingly, the facts underlying those rulings do not affect our decision, and we offer only the briefest summary of them.

K.C., the subject of this proceeding, is the youngest of eight children born to father, the appellant in this case, and to mother, who has not appealed. K.C. was born in September 2008. Five of his siblings survive. Another sibling died at birth, and the eldest, J.C., died in October 2008 at the age of 15 after jumping from a moving car driven by…