B.C. v. C.P.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 6, 2023
Docket515 WDA 2022
StatusUnpublished

This text of B.C. v. C.P. (B.C. v. C.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
B.C. v. C.P., (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

J-A25005-22

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

B.C. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : C.P. AND D.B. : : Appellants : No. 515 WDA 2022

Appeal from the Order Entered April 18, 2022, in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, Domestic Relations at No(s): No. 1494 of 2021-D.

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., NICHOLS, J., and McCAFFERY, J.

MEMORANDUM BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED: JANUARY 6, 2023

Appellant C.P. (Mother), and her husband Appellant D.B. (Husband),

appeal from the order issued by the Westmoreland County Court of Common

Pleas, which granted the request of Appellee B.C. (Mother’s Former Boyfriend)

to have the Mother’s Child genetically tested to establish paternity. Mother

and Husband argue that the presumption of paternity precludes an order for

genetic testing. Alternatively, they argue that the doctrine of paternity by

estoppel precludes such an order. After careful review, we affirm.

The record discloses the following factual and procedural history:

Mother and Husband married in September 2016. In 2017, Mother sought

addiction treatment at the Greenbriar Treatment Center. There, she met

Former Boyfriend, who was also seeking help. Mother and Former Boyfriend

began communicating in Spring 2018 through social media. In July 2018, J-A25005-22

Mother and Husband separated; Mother remained in the marital residence,

while Husband moved out.

Former Boyfriend went to Mother’s residence three times in October

2018. During at least one of these occasions, Former Boyfriend and Mother

had unprotected sex. Soon thereafter, Mother and Husband had rekindled

their relationship; Mother does not remember the exact date, but they also

had unprotected sex in late October 2018. On November 4, 2018, Mother and

Husband reconciled, and Husband moved back into the marital residence.

Mother did not experience pregnancy symptoms until March 2019. She

could not pinpoint when the Child was conceived. While a typical nine-month

pregnancy meant that the Child was conceived in September 2018, Mother

stated she was not intimate with anyone during that time. While the Child

had a low birth weight, there was no other indication that the Child was born

prematurely.

When Mother discovered she was pregnant, she told Husband that the

Child was his. In Spring 2019, Former Boyfriend discovered through social

media that Mother was pregnant. At that time, Mother told Former Boyfriend

that the Child was not his. During Mother’s pregnancy, Husband went to all

prenatal appointments and assumed the duties of an expectant father. When

the Child was born in June 2019, Husband was listed as the father on the

Child’s birth certificate.

After the birth, Mother began going to Former Boyfriend’s home with

the Child. In August 2019, Mother told Former Boyfriend that he was the

-2- J-A25005-22

biological father. Former Boyfriend began seeing the Child on a weekly basis.

He would also babysit while Mother worked long shifts as a nurse. Mother and

Husband separated again, and Mother and the Child moved in with Former

Boyfriend in March or April 2020.

While living together, Mother told Former Boyfriend’s friends and family

that he was the father. Former Boyfriend assumed the parental and financial

duties. Mother traveled from Former Boyfriend’s residence on the weekends

to allow Husband to see the Child. Former Boyfriend did not object to Mother

doing this, because Former Boyfriend felt sympathy toward Husband. Former

Boyfriend thought that Mother had told Husband that Husband was not the

father. Former Boyfriend thought Husband was distraught.

The relationship between Mother and Former Boyfriend ended in August

2020, after Former Boyfriend assaulted Mother.1 The last time Former

Boyfriend saw the Child was in November 2020, when Mother brought the

Child to visit him in a rehabilitation center.

Between August 2020 and January 2021, Mother and Husband had

reconciled, separated, and then reconciled again. Husband filed for divorce,

and a custody order was entered awarding shared custody to Mother and

Husband. Former Boyfriend said he did not seek custody during this time,

because he was still receiving in-patient care at the rehabilitation center.

____________________________________________

1 Boyfriend pleaded no contest to the assault in December 2021.

-3- J-A25005-22

Husband and Mother ultimately chose not to proceed with the divorce, and

they remain together.

On August 27, 2021, Former Boyfriend filed a complaint to establish

paternity for genetic testing of the Child. On October 14, 2021, Mother and

Husband filed an answer and new matter, seeking to dismiss the complaint

with prejudice, based on the presumption of paternity. The trial court

conducted a hearing on April 11, 2022, during which Former Boyfriend

appeared pro se.

The trial court ruled that the presumption of paternity does not apply,

notwithstanding the fact that Mother and Husband are still married. The court

ruled further that they were not entitled to relief under the doctrine of

paternity by estoppel. Thus, the court denied the Mother and Husband’s

motion to dismiss and ordered the parties and the Child to appear at the

domestic relations office for paternity testing.

Mother and Husband timely appealed. They present the following issues

for our review:

1. Whether the trial court erred in failing or refusing to apply the presumption of paternity and/or finding that it is rebuttable, where the law and facts clearly demonstrate that the presumption applies in the case?

2. Whether the trial court misinterpreted or misapplied the law in failing to apply the paternity by estoppel doctrine to prevent [Former Boyfriend] from asserting his paternity claim?

Mother and Husband’s Brief at 6.

-4- J-A25005-22

We review orders directing or denying genetic testing for an abuse of

discretion. See Barr v. Bartolo, 927 A.2d 635, 639 (Pa. Super. 2007). “For

our purposes, an abuse of discretion requires proof of more than a mere error

of judgment, but rather evidence that the law was misapplied or overridden,

or that the judgment was manifestly unreasonable or based on bias, ill will,

prejudice or partiality.” Id. (citations omitted); see also K.E.M. v. P.C.S., 38

A.3d 798, 803 (Pa. 2012). Additionally, “it is well-settled that the trial court,

sitting as factfinder, weighs the evidence and assesses credibility. Thus, the

court ‘is free to believe all, part, or none of the evidence, and we, as an

appellate court, will not disturb the credibility determinations of the court

below.’” DeRosa v. Gordon, -- A.3d --, 2022 WL 17099037 at *4 (Pa. Super.

November 22, 2022) (citing Vargo v. Schwartz, 940 A.2d 459, 462 (Pa.

Super. 2007) (brackets omitted)).

The legal determination of paternity of a child conceived or born during

marriage derives from common law. The presumption of paternity and the

doctrine of estoppel embody “the two great fictions of the law of paternity:

the presumption of paternity embodies the fiction that regardless of biology,

the married people to whom the child was born are the parents; and the

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