RULE 8.210. 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.