State ex rel. P.W. v. T.H.P.

726 So. 2d 279, 1998 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 393
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 22, 1998
Docket2970319, 2970463
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 726 So. 2d 279 (State ex rel. P.W. v. T.H.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. P.W. v. T.H.P., 726 So. 2d 279, 1998 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 393 (Ala. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

WRIGHT, Retired Appellate Judge.

In 1976 P.W. (mother) married E.D.M. (ex-husband). In 1980 the mother gave birth to a son, B.M. (child). In 1981 the mother gave birth to another son. The mother and the ex-husband were divorced by the Morgan County Circuit Court on April 3, 1985. The divorce judgment incorporated an agreement entered into between the parties. The agreement stated that although two children were born during the marriage, the ex-husband was not the natural father of either child. The agreement also provided that the mother made no claim for child support and that the ex-husband made no claim for visitation rights. The mother remarried in 1986.

[280]*280In 1994 the State, on behalf of the child, filed a complaint against the ex-husband, seeking an adjudication of paternity and child support. After blood test results excluded the ex-husband as the father of the child, the State dismissed the action. On February 28, 1995, the State, on behalf of the mother, filed in the Morgan County Juvenile Court a complaint against T.H.P., seeking an adjudication of paternity and child support. T.H.P. answered, asserting as an affirmative defense the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6, Ala.Code 1975. The juvenile court, sua sponte, appointed a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the child. Thereafter, the State added the ex-husband as a defendant. The State filed a motion to have both T.H.P. and the ex-husband submit to genetic testing, which the juvenile court granted. Both T.H.P. and the ex-husband filed motions to alter, amend, or vacate the order requiring them to submit to .genetic testing. The State filed another motion to have T.H.P. and the ex-husband submit to genetic testing, which the juvenile court again granted. T.H.P. again filed a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the order. T.H.P. filed a motion to join the child as a plaintiff. The juvenile court granted T.H.P.’s motion.

On January 29, 1997, the juvenile court entered a judgment, finding T.H.P. to be the father of the child, based on the mother’s testimony and T.H.P.’s refusal to submit to genetic testing. The juvenile court ordered T.H.P. to pay $200 per month in child support. T.H.P. filed a notice of appeal to the Morgan County Circuit Court, for a trial de novo.

The State again filed a motion for genetic testing. T.H.P. filed a motion for a summary judgment, asserting that the paternity action was barred by the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6. The child’s guardian ad litem filed a response in opposition to’ T.H.P.’s motion. The trial court entered an order, granting the State’s motion for genetic testing; however, it delayed the testing until a ruling had been made on the summary judgment motion. The trial court also requested the parties to submit additional legal authority.

Following the parties’ submission of letter briefs, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of T.H.P., stating in pertinent part:

“II. Parties’ Contentions
“[T.H.P.] asserts in his motion -for [a] summary judgment that the child had a presumed father, [the ex-husband], and that the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6(a) bars the child’s action brought more than five years after the child’s birth.
“[The ex-husband] asserts that he is not the child’s biological father as evidenced by the genetic testing report dated August 10, 1994, which excluded him as the father of [the child].
“The [State] and the minor child, through his guardian ad litem, assert the [1985 divorce judgment] involving [the mother and the ex-husband] rebutted the presumption that [the ex-husband] was the father of the minor child ... born during the marriage of his mother and [the ex-husband], notwithstanding the fact that the minor child was not made a party to the divorce action and no guardian ad li-tem was appointed to represent his interests therein. These parties further assert that, since the presumption of paternity was rebutted, the child has no presumed father, and the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6(a) is not applicable and is not a bar to the child’s paternity action brought in 1995 against [T.H.P.]. These parties further assert that [T.H.P.] does not have standing to raise the issue of the non-binding effect on the minor child of the paternity determination made in the divorce action.
“HI. Order
“The court has carefully considered the pleadings, the parties’ positions, and the excellent briefs filed by the parties in support of their respective positions and enters the following order:
“... ‘[A] paternity adjudication in a divorce action, which is necessary for the purposes of support and maintenance, is res judicata to the parties in the divorce action, but not binding on the child unless the child is a party.’ Powers v. State, 622 [281]*281So.2d 400, 401 (Ala.Civ.App.1993). Accordingly, as to [the child], the divorce [judgment] did not rebut the presumption of paternity established by § 26-17-6(a) that [the ex-husband] was his father. See S.E.B. v. J.H.B., 605 So.2d 1230, 1233 (Ala.Civ.App.1992). Contrary to the arguments of the [State] and the guardian ad litem, the child’s lawsuit to establish paternity filed against [the ex-husband] in 1994 evidenced the child’s acknowledgement that the divorce [judgment] did not rebut the presumption that [the ex-husband] was his father. The court is not aware of any final order in any action in which the child was a party that affirmatively ruled [the ex-husband] was not the father of [the child], and [the ex-husband] remains his presumptive father.
“The child cannot now claim in his action against [T.H.P.] that the divorce [judgment] rebutted the presumption that [the ex-husband] was his father. The child cannot assert inconsistent positions that as to him and [the ex-husband], the divorce [judgment] did not rebut the presumption of paternity but as to him and [T.H.P.], the divorce [judgment] did rebut the presumption of paternity.
“The child argues that application of § 26-17-6(a) would effectively prevent him from ever litigating the issue of his paternity. The legislature enacted the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6(a), and the statute has not been declared unconstitutional.”

The tidal court made its order final and appealable, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P.

The State and the guardian ad litem appeal. The guardian ad litem contends (1) that the child does not have a presumed father and that, therefore, § 26-17-6(a) is not applicable; (2) that the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6(a) violates the child’s right to equal protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution; and (3) that the five-year statute of limitations of § 26-17-6(a) is preempted by federal law. The State contends that the trial court erred in finding that the paternity action was barred by the five-year statute of limitations set forth in § 26-17-6(a) and that [T.H.P.] did not have standing to challenge the divorce judgment, which rebuts the presumption of paternity.

With regard to the guardian ad li-tem’s second and third issues, the guardian ad litem failed to raise these issues before the trial court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
726 So. 2d 279, 1998 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-pw-v-thp-alacivapp-1998.