PARTIES AND PARTICIPANTS

(a) Parties. For the purpose of these rules the terms “party” and “parties” include the petitioner, the child, the parent(s) of the child, the department, and the guardian ad litem.

(b) Participants. “Participant” means any person who is not a party but who should receive notice of hearings involving the child. Participants include foster parents or the legal custodian of the child, identified prospective parents, actual custodians of the child, grandparents entitled to notice of an adoption proceeding as provided by law, the state attorney, and any other person whose participation may be in the best interest of the child. The court may add additional participants. Participants may be granted leave by the court to be heard without the necessity of filing a motion to intervene and have no other rights of a party except as provided by law.

(c) Parent or Legal Custodian. For the purposes of these rules, when the phrase “parent(s) or legal custodian(s)” is used, it refers to the rights or responsibilities of the parent and, only if there is no living parent with intact parental rights, to the rights or responsibilities of the legal custodian who has assumed the role of the parent.