Walter v. Gunter

788 A.2d 609, 367 Md. 386, 2002 Md. LEXIS 3

• Court: Court of Appeals of Maryland
• Decided: January 9, 2002
• Docket: 41, Sept.Term, 2001
• Status: Published

Opinions

BATTAGLIA, Judge.

The decisional issue in this case is whether the appellant, Nicholas Todd Walter, remains liable for child support arrearages when the paternity judgment, from which the child support order emanates, was vacated. We hold that the putative father cannot be legally obligated for child support arrearages that result from a now-vacated paternity judgment. The trial court is without discretion in this matter because, as a matter of law, the inherently dependent child support orders are invalid upon the vacatur of the paternity declaration.

I. Background

On August 13, 1993, the appellee, Michele Gunter, filed a Complaint to Establish Paternity in which she claimed that Nicholas Todd Walter was the father of her child. Walter consented to a judgment of paternity on September 30, 1993, based on Gunter’s representations that she had not had sexual relations with any other man during the period of conception. Pursuant to the court’s paternity judgment, Walter was ordered to pay child support in the amount of $43.00 per week.

During the following years, periodic civil contempt proceedings were brought against Walter to enforce the child support obligation. Walter’s financial stresses stemmed, at least to some degree, from an injury sustained in a work related accident in 1996 that was exacerbated by a subsequent motor vehicle accident making him unable to work in his prior job.¹ For these reasons, on March 30, 2000, Walter filed a petition to modify child support. Walter contemporaneously filed a motion for genetic testing. Walter asserted that Gunter’s family members had told Walter repeatedly that he was not the child’s father and that he wanted a paternity test to prove that the child was indeed his. The genetic testing, however, excluded Walter conclusively as the father of the child. As a result, the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, on September 28, 2000, terminated Walter’s prospective child support obligation, subject to further argument on retroactivity.

On October 19, 2000, a hearing before a Master was conducted to determine whether Walter would remain responsible for paying the arrearages and whether he could recoup the child support payments already made. The Master recommended that the circuit court set aside the paternity judgment, deny Walter’s request for recoupment of child support previously paid, deny Walter’s request that he not be responsible for arrearage, and order Walter accountable for the accrued arrearage as of March 30, 2000, the date on which he filed his motion for genetic testing.

Walter filed exceptions to the Master’s recommendations based solely on the arrearage issue.² A hearing on the exceptions was held on March 9, 2001 before the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, and the exceptions were overruled. The circuit court, accepting the Master’s recommendations, set aside the paternity judgment and ordered that Walter was responsible for the arrearage in existence as of March 30, 2000, totaling $11,228 (of which $4,153.33 was owed to the State Department of Social Services).³

Mr. Walter appealed to the Court of Special Appeals and filed in this Court a petition for certiorari before judgment and a petition for expedited review. We granted certiorari to determine whether the appellant, Nicholas Todd Walter, remains liable for child support arrearages when the paternity judgment, from which the child support order emanates, was vacated, and whether, in the event that we hold Walter liable for the arrearages, he may be subject to contempt proceedings or imprisonment for failure to make payments on the arrear-age. Walter v. Gunter, 364 Md. 534, 774 A.2d 408 (2001). Because we hold that Walter cannot be legally obligated for child support arrearages that result from a now-vacated paternity judgment, we do not reach the second issue.

II. Standard of Review

Review by this Court involves interpreting whether the circuit court’s order was legally correct. While child support orders are generally within the sound discretion of the trial court, see Beckman v. Boggs, 337 Md. 688, 703, 655 A.2d 901, 908 (1995)(discussing the circuit court’s discretion in family matters, with specific reference to visitation orders); Giffin v. Crane, 351 Md. 133, 144, 716 A.2d 1029, 1035 (1998)(reviewing the lower court’s determination of custody); Early v. Early, 338 Md. 639, 654, 659 A.2d 1334, 1341 (1995)(reviewing the circuit court’s child support order), not to be disturbed unless there has been a clear abuse of discretion, where the order involves an interpretation and application of Maryland statutory and case law, our Court must determine whether the lower court’s conclusions are “legally correct” under a de novo standard of review. See In re Mark M., 362 Md. 623, 766 A.2d 147 (2001)(reviewing a trial court’s visitation order de novo when the issue involved whether the order itself constituted an improper delegation of judicial authority).

III. Discussion

The issue we decide today — whether a child support order, terminated⁴ by the circuit court prospectively after the vacatur of the paternity declaration, may still oblige the father to satisfy arrearage-is a novel question of law. As is often the case with novel legal questions, a comprehensive understanding of the issue necessitates consideration of several facets of the pertinent law. The matters we consider today are tailored by the arguments proffered by the parties and the law on which the Master and the circuit court relied in declaring Walter responsible for the arrearage. The parties argue that specific provisions of the Family Law Article, namely Section 12-104⁵ and Section 5 — 1038(b),⁶ either prohibit or require this Court to find in their favor. The parties, as well as the Master and the circuit court, also rely extensively on dicta in this Court’s recent decision, Langston v. Riffle, 359 Md. 396, 754 A.2d 389 (2000), to support their respective arguments. We will briefly address the proper application of each of these statutory sections in the Family Law Article and the application of our decision in Langston, supra, as such review will not only provide guidance for future proceedings of this nature, but will help to narrow the issue before us.

First, the facts of this case do not present a situation encompassed by Section 12-104 of the Family Law Article, which confines a court’s ability to modify a child support order subsequent to the date of the filing of a motion for modification. In the case sub judice, this Court must consider the viability of a child support order after the very paternity declaration, from which the child support order originates, has been vacated, not the modification of a child support order requested as a result of some material change of circumstance of one of the parties before the court. Therefore, Section 12-104 does not limit our review of the issue presently before us.

Second, the facts of this case do not permit consideration of the discretionary authority afforded courts by Section 5-1038(b), which provides:

Except for a declaration of paternity, the court may modify or set aside any order or part of an order under this subtitle as the court considers just and proper in light of the circumstances and in the best interests of the child.

Md.Code, § 5-1038(b) of the Family Law Article. We have clearly stated, on several occasions, that Section 5-1038(b) operates to ensure continuing jurisdiction for paternity orders (with the exception of paternity declarations) for purposes of modifying or vacating those orders as may be “just and proper in light of the circumstances and in the best interests of the child.” Id.; See also, Jessica G. v. Hector M., 337 Md. 388, 401, 653 A.2d 922, 928-29 (1995); Adams v. Mallory, 308 Md. 453, 463, 520 A.2d 371, 376 (1987). Yet, the orders subject to this provision are those articulated throughout the paternity proceeding subtitle, and therefore, necessarily stem from a paternity declaration.⁷ See Md.Code, § 5-1038(b)(explicitly encompassing “any order or part of order under this subtitle” — “this subtitle” refers to subtitle 10 which consists of paternity proceedings provisions). In the absence of a paternity declaration, these orders have no foundation and the aforementioned “continuing jurisdiction” is meaningless.

This case presents a factually unique circumstance: the circuit court terminated ongoing child support, yet ruled that the arrearage, which resulted from the very same child support order, still obligated the now non-paternal “father.” Ostensibly, the circuit court used its discretionary authority to “modify” a child support order as is “just and proper in light of the circumstances.” Md.Code, § 5-1308(b). Contrary to the parties’ assertions, this is not a situation that can be readily discharged under Section 5-1038(b). In fact, Section 5-1038(b) is inapplicable. Section 5 — 1038(b) deals strictly with paternity orders, i.e. orders relating to or arising from paternity declarations, or more specifically, orders relating to valid and enforceable paternity declarations. The absence of a paternity declaration, as becomes its status upon vacatur,⁸ demands the abrogation of a court’s discretion to “modify or set aside” a child support order relating to that paternity declaration.

The utility of Section 5-1038(b) is that it grants courts discretionary authority to modify paternity orders when a valid paternity declaration is in place. A court has no discretion, however, to “modify” a child support order which is based on a vacated paternity judgment because the order itself is inextricably linked to the paternity declaration, its viability, absolutely dependent on the viability of the paternity declaration.

That the child support order is contingent upon an initial paternity declaration is evidenced by Section 5-1032 of the Family Law Article, which provides that upon a finding that the alleged father is the paternal father, the court must issue an order which both declares paternity and provides for support of the child. See Md.Code (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.), § 5-1032(a) of the Family Law Article. Furthermore, the very basis for child support, and an articulated purpose of the paternity proceedings article, is “to impose on the mothers and fathers of children born out of wedlock the basic obligations and responsibilities of parenthood.” See Md.Code, (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.) § 5-1002(b)(2) of the Family Law Article (emphasis added).

“[Pjarenthood is both a biological and a legal status, that by nature and law it confers rights and imposes duties, and that one of the duties it casts upon parents is the duty to support their children____” Thrower v. State ex. rel. Bureau of Support Enforcement, 358 Md. 146, 159, 747 A.2d 634, 641 (2000) (discussing Carroll County v. Edelmann, 320 Md. 150, 577 A.2d 14 (1990)). Without question, the biological and legal status of “parenthood” in Walter’s situation is now extinct; the genetic test extinguishes the prior, and the vacatur of the paternity declaration extinguishes the latter. In the absence of “parenthood” status, the duty that is normally cast upon parents, e.g. the duty of child support, can no longer exist.⁹ To conclude otherwise would erroneously permit courts to financially obligate a person to a judgment while completely lacking the statutory (or equitable) authority to so obligate.

Without paternity, there is no legal duty; without a legal duty, there can be no financial obligation. See Bledsoe v. Bledsoe, 294 Md. 183, 193, 448 A.2d 353, 358 (1982)(stating that “the legal obligation to support children arises out of parenthood”); Brown v. Brown, 287 Md. 273, 284, 412 A.2d 396, 402 (1980)(defining a “child” or “children” of specific individuals as “immediate offspring”)(quoting Billingsley v. Bradley, 166 Md. 412, 419, 171 A. 351, 354 (1934)). Nowhere in the Family Law Article does it state that a man, conclusively found not to be the paternal father, retains the same responsibilities of a man declared to be the paternal father;¹⁰ see Knill v. Knill, 306 Md. 527, 531, 510 A.2d 546, 548 (1986) (describing Maryland’s long history of “placing] the responsibility of child support squarely upon the shoulders of the natural parents”)(emphasis added); Brown, 287 Md. at 284, 412 A.2d at 402 (stating that “the duty of parents to provide for the maintenance of their children, is a principle of natural law; an obligation laid on them not only by nature herself, but by their own proper act, in bringing them into the world”)(quoting 1 W. Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 447 (1854)); nor does there seem to be any situation in law, contract, tort, or otherwise, that would require a continuing financial obligation on a contract subsequently ruled invalid or a tort judgment subsequently vacated, even if, during the period for which the contract or judgment remained valid, the person so obligated accrued debt or ar-rearages. We refuse to create that situation here.

The Consent Order embodying the paternity proceedings for this case is emblematic of the dependency of a child support order on the paternity declaration. The Consent Order provided in relevant part:

Upon the consent of the parties, it is hereby ORDERED this 3rd day of September, 1993:

A. That the Defendant [Walter] is the father of the minor child(ren), Taylor Alexandria Gunter, bom, 9/3/92.

B. That the Defendant [Walter] is charged with support of the minor child(ren) named above until such child(ren) shall become 18 years of age, die, marry, or become self-supporting, whichever event first occurs.

C. That the Defendant [Walter] shall pay the sum of $43.00 Dollars per week, pursuant to the Maryland Child Support Guidelines, accounting from the 5th day of October, 1993, for the temporary support and maintenance of the minor child(ren).

*******

As is indicated by the Consent Order, and as is required by Section 5-1032, the circuit court first declared Walter to be the father of the child and then assigned Walter a duty of financial support. Conceptually, it is difficult to reconcile the argument that the portion of the Consent Order on which all other portions rely could be vacated, while the order to pay child support remains in effect, at least to the extent that Walter has been ordered to pay the arrearage. By vacating a child support order, it is not simply prospective relief that is realized; rather, at least any and every outstanding inchoate legal obligation is also invalidated.¹¹

This Court historically has recognized a distinction between a standard debt and a legal duty in domestic circumstances, specifically with respect to child support, and subscribes to the theory that child support is a duty not a debt. See Middleton v. Middleton, 329 Md. 627, 629-33, 620 A.2d 1363, 1364-66 (1993)(discussing the development of the debt/duty distinction with respect to domestic financial support obligations). Child support is a “legal duty arising from or imposed by law.” Id. at 633, 620 A.2d at 1366 (citations and quotations omitted). The duty/debt distinction, however, does not alter the effect of a vacated paternity judgment. To the contrary, a vacated paternity judgment effectively extinguishes that “legal duty arising from or imposed by law,” and as that duty is extinguished, so too is the financial obligation attached to that duty. When non-parents are forced to bear the financial burden of erroneous paternity declarations, the State risks losing credibility when seeking to enforce the true and authentic parental duty and its related financial obligations on behalf of the children of this State.¹²

We cannot dispense this ruling without a brief discussion of our decision in Langston v. Riffe, 359 Md. 396, 754 A.2d 389 (2000), as it is the primary case on which the Master and the circuit court rely and to which the parties have looked for guidance in presenting their arguments before us.

The issues in Langston were whether Section 5-1038, which allows courts to set aside paternity judgments upon discovery by blood or genetic testing that the adjudged father is excluded as the actual biological father, could be retroactively applied to paternity declarations issued prior to the October 1, 1995, the effective date of the law, and whether and to what extent the trial court must consider the “best interests of the child” prior to ruling on the reconsideration of paternity. Id. at 403, 754 A.2d at 392. Upon review of the legislative history of Section 5-1038, we held that Section 5-1038(a) applied to paternity declarations issued prior to October 1, 1995 and that the best interests of the child, pursuant to Section 5-1038(b), had no bearing on the paternity declaration itself. Id. at 403, 427-28, 754 A.2d at 392, 406.

As we noted in Langston, the Legislature altered Section 5-1038(a) to overturn the effect of our decision in Tandra S. v. Tyrone W., 336 Md. 303, 648 A.2d 439 (1994), which precluded putative fathers from requesting vacatur of paternity judgments in the absence of evidence of “fraud, mistake, or-irregularity.”¹³ Langston, 359 Md. at 405, 754 A.2d at 393. The principle extended in Langston was that genetic testing, under Section 5-1038(a), was available to any putative father who sought to challenge a paternity declaration entered against him without the benefit of blood or genetic test evidence. Id. at 427-28, 754 A.2d at 406. Simply put, the Langston holding applied only to paternity proceedings under Section 5-1038(a); it did not consider whether orders other than paternity declarations, such as child support orders, which are borne from an original paternity declaration, could be set aside pursuant to Section 5-1038(b) upon the vacatur of the original paternity declaration. Id. at 437, 754 A.2d at 411.

The Master, the circuit court, and the parties to this case have focused almost exclusively on two portions of the Lang-ston opinion in support of their respective arguments and/or conclusions. We provide the first portion below:

Our holding does not apply to the support already paid by putative fathers and to the arrears they owe in support. Those property rights are already accrued. It would clearly raise problems, particularly in the areas of takings and due process, for this Court to interpret the statute to extend the retroactive application of Chapter 248 so far that a child must pay back support already claimed, adjudicated, received, and expended through a paternity-related child support, or other compensatory order, during the period it was legally in effect. Likewise, this reasoning applies to any debt owed by a putative father through the prior support or compensatory order, which is enforceable at least until the putative father initiates proceedings to attack the paternity declaration to which the order relates.

Id. at 423, 754 A.2d at 403. Too much weight, albeit understandably, has been placed on this portion of the opinion. Notwithstanding that this language was clearly dicta, its sole utility was to limit our holding in the specific case to paternity declarations under Section 5-1038(a). We did not wish to convey that our retroactive application of Section 5-1038(a) could be interpreted to include, solely by virtue of our decision in Langston, orders that were normally subject to Section 5-1038(b), particularly in view of the delicate nature of retrospective application of a statute. See Rawlings v. Rawlings, 362 Md. 535, 555-56, 766 A.2d 98, 109 (2001); Roth v. Dimensions Health Corp. 332 Md. 627, 636, 632 A.2d 1170, 1174 (1993); Washington Suburban Sanitary Comm’n v. Riverdale Heights Fire Co., 308 Md. 556, 568, 520 A.2d 1319, 1325 (1987).

Our intention in this regard also was articulated by the second portion of Langston on which the Master, circuit court and parties heavily rely:

Our holding today applies only to proceedings to modify or set aside a paternity declaration; an attempt to modify or set aside any other order resulting from an original paternity declaration is governed by section 5-1038(b). In addition, the holding of this Court does not necessarily affect any child support already paid or in arrears as of the date of the filing of these respective proceedings at the trial court.

Id. at 437, 754 A.2d at 411 (emphasis added). Again, the function of this language was to limit our holding to paternity challenges under part(a) of Section 5-1038. Our reference to Section 5-1038(b) iterated the constraints of our holding by explaining that other orders resulting from paternity declarations were not impacted by our retroactive application of Section 5-1038(a) with respect to disputed paternity declarations. As our holding today clarifies, however, once a paternity declaration supporting arrearage is vacated, the child support order resulting from the paternity declaration is also invalid, and cannot be subject to the discretionary power of the courts pursuant to Section 5-1038(b). We reiterate that the outcome at which we arrive today is not the result of a retroactive application of the statute,¹⁴ but rather, a nullification of the child support order. As such, the Langston decision, while pertaining to closely related paternity matters, is distinct from the issues presented today.

In conclusion, we hold that upon vacating a paternity declaration, the putative father cannot be legally obligated for arrearages emanating from child support orders resulting from the now-vacated paternity declaration. The trial court is without discretion in this matter because, as a matter of law, the dependent paternity orders are invalid once the paternity declaration is vacated.

JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY REVERSED. CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLEE.

Concurring opinion by BELL, C.J.

Dissenting opinion by WILNER, J.

Dissenting opinion by HARRELL, J., joined by RAKER, J.

1 . It appears that Walter was employed by four different employers throughout his "paternal” years, but that his occupation involved operating motor vehicles, i.e. tow- trucks or cabs. At the time Walter petitioned to modify child support he indicated that he could no longer work as a cab driver due to the severity of his injuries.

2 . Walter filed his exceptions and requested a hearing on December 14, 2000. The circuit court proceeded without a hearing and issued its order on December 20, 2000. As a result, Walter filed a Motion to Strike the Order and requested, again, a hearing on the exceptions. The motion was granted, the Order stricken, and the hearing scheduled for March 9, 2001.

We note that Walter did not file an exception to the Master's recommendation regarding the issue of recoupment of the child support already paid. The Master stated that Walter had no automatic right to recoupment, but instead, that recoupment was within the sound discretion of the court upon consideration of the best interests of the child. Therefore, believing that recoupment would be detrimental to the best interests of the child, the Master recommended that the circuit court deny Walter's request for recoupment. Walter did not except to this recommendation and the circuit court ultimately adopted the Master’s recommendation and denied Walter's claim for recoupment. The re-coupment issue is not presently before this Court.

3 . Walter was in arrears of $12,303 as of the date that the paternity judgment was set aside. The Circuit Court Order, however, provided that Walter was responsible for the arrearage as of the date of filing the motion for genetic testing (March 30, 2000).

4 . We note that use of the word "terminate” with respect to support orders may have different legal consequences than the use of the word "vacate.” As such, we believe it to be better practice to vacate the child support order simultaneously with vacating the paternity declaration.

5 . Maryland Code (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.), Section 12-104 of the Family Law Article provides for modification of a child support award as follows:

(a) Prerequisites. — The court may modify a child support award subsequent to the filing of a motion for modification and upon a showing of a material change of circumstance.

(b) Retroactivity of modification. — The court may not retroactively modify a child support award prior to the date of the filing of the motion for modification.

6 . Further references to Section 5-1038 are specifically to Maryland Code (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.), § 5-1038 of the Family Law Article, unless otherwise noted. Section 5-1038 provides:

(a) Declaration of paternity final; modifications.—

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a declaration of paternity in an order is final.

(2) (i) A declaration of paternity may be modified or set aside:

1. in the manner and to the extent that any order or decree of an equity court is subject to the revisory power of the court under any law, rule, or established principle of practice and procedure in equity; or

2. if a blood or genetic test done in accordance with § 5-1029 of this subtitle establishes the exclusion of the individual named as the father in the order.

(ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, a declaration of paternity may not be modified or set aside if the individual named in the order acknowledged paternity knowing he was not the father.

(b) Other orders subject to modification. — Except for a declaration of paternity, the court may modify or set aside any order or part of an order under this subtitle as the court considers just and proper in light of the circumstances and in the best interests of the child.

The obvious distinction between these two sections is that part (a) applies to paternity declarations while part (b) applies to the other related paternity orders that are often borne from a paternity declaration. See infra note 7 (discussing the orders subject to Section 5-1038(b)).

7 . Paternity orders subject to Section 5-1038(b) include: the medical support of the child pursuant to Section 5-1033(a), the attorneys fees of the complainant pursuant to Section 5-1033(c)(2), and visitation privileges or custody pursuant to Section 5-1035(a). See Jessica G., 337 Md. at 401, 653 A.2d at 929 (stating that "the 'orders’ to which FL § 5-1038(b) are applicable would seem to be all inclusive”); Adams, 308 Md. at 463, 520 A.2d at 376 (listing several orders addressed by Section 5-1038(b) and including the catch-all, “any other matter that is related to the general welfare and best interests of the child” pursuant to Section 5-1035(a)(4)).

We have also opined that child support orders should be subject to discretionary review by the trial court pursuant to Section 5-1038(b). See Markov v. Markov, 360 Md. 296, 312-13, 758 A.2d 75, 84 (2000), but Markov did not specifically consider whether one should remain responsible for arrearages upon proper vacatur of a paternity declaration. While paternity in Markov was contested, the case arose from a divorce proceeding and involved the issue of whether the putative father was equitably estopped from denying a duty to pay support. Id. at 298, 758 A.2d at 76. We discussed Section 5-1038(b) in dicta and only in relation to a possible challenge that the twin girls might raise against the putative father should the court deny child support entirely. Id. at 312-13, 758 A.2d at 84.

8 . Vacatur is a "[t]he act of annulling or setting aside. A rule or order by which a proceeding is vacated.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1388 (5th ed. 1979). To vacate is ”[t]o render an act void; as, to vacate an entry of record, or a judgment.” Id. Clearly upon vacating a paternity declaration, it no longer exists or has legal force.

9 . If this Court can hold, as it has, that the duty of child support does not extend to a stepparent, see Knill v. Knill, 306 Md. 527, 531, 510 A.2d 546, 548 (reiterating that "[t]he duty of child support extends to the natural parents of an illegitimate child, but not to a stepparent”), then certainly the duty of child support should not extend to a person not related by either blood or marriage.

10 . We recognize that contract or equitable estoppel principles might prevent a man who has held himself out to be the father of the child(ren) from denying a support obligation. See Markov v. Markov, 360 Md. 296, 307, 758 A.2d 75, 81 (2000); Knill v. Knill, 306 Md. 527, 536, 510 A.2d 546, 551 (1986); Bledsoe, 294 Md. at 193, 448 A.2d at 359; Brown, 287 Md. at 284, 412 A.2d at 402. Nevertheless, as these cases make clear, there are major differences between a contractual legal obligation to support and the legal non-contractual obligation to support.

11 . Again, we note that the issue of recoupment is not before this Court; our holding today is strictly limited to the issue of child support arrearage. See supra note 2.

12 . We pause to comment on the concerns articulated by Judge Wilner in his dissent. Certainly a father who waits 7 years to contest paternity is no shining example of how we would wish the paternity decisions in this State to be made. As troubling as the lapse of time may be, this Court cannot judicially "correct” these outcomes by holding a man who is not the father of the child liable for a child support order which was both entered erroneously and subsequently vacated. Judge Wilner's concerns would be better addressed by mandates from our Legislature which, for example, might establish either: (a) a statute of limitations for contesting paternity; (b) a statute limiting the effect of vacated paternity judgments, i.e. requiring fathers to pay to the date of vacatur; or (c) state-provided paternity testing prior to entry of a paternity declaration. It is legislative action, not judicial decree, which would properly ease Judge Wilner's concerns.

Judge Wilner further likens our decision to an "assault ... on the efforts to assure the decent support of children.” Again, we note that the very basis for child support, and an articulated purpose of the paternity proceedings article, is "to impose on the mothers and fathers of children born out of wedlock the basic obligations and responsibilities of parenthood.” See Md.Code, (1984, 1999 Repl.Vol.) § 5 — 1002(b)(2) of the Family Law Article (emphasis added). Our Legislature never stated that the “decent support of children” should be imposed upon those who are found, conclusively, not to be the child’s parent; and should they so intend, such obligation must be explicitly enacted by our representatives in the Legislature, not created by judicial edict.

13 . At the time Tandra S. was decided. Section 5-1038 only permitted review of paternity declarations pursuant to a court's revisory powers. The section provided:

(a) Declaration of paternity final. — Except in the manner and to the extent that any order or decree of an equity court is subject to the revisory power of the court under any law, rule, or established principle of practice and procedure in equity, a declaration of paternity in an order is final.

(b) Other orders subject to modification. — Except for a declaration of paternity, the court may modify or set aside any order or part of an order under this subtitle as the court considers just and proper in light of the circumstances and in the best interests of the child.

See Maryland Code (1984, 1991 Repl.Vol.), § 5-1038 of the Family Law Article (emphasis added). The Maryland courts’ revisory power is provided in Maryland Rule 2-535:

(a) Generally. — On motion of any party filed within 30 days after entry of judgment, the court may exercise revisory power and control over the judgment and, if the action was tried before the court, may take any action that it could have taken under Rule 2-534.

(b) Fraud, Mistake, Irregularity. — On motion of any party filed at any time, the court may exercise revisory power and control over the judgment in case of fraud, mistake, or irregularity.

(c) Newly Discovered Evidence. — On motion of any party filed within 30 days after entry of judgment, the court may grant a new trial on the ground of newly-discovered evidence that could not have been discovered by due diligence in time to move for a new trial pursuant to Rule 2-533.

(d) Clerical Mistakes. — Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record may be corrected by the court at any time on its own initiative, or on motion of any party after such notice, if any, as the court orders. During the pendency of an appeal, such mistakes may be so corrected before the appeal is docketed by the appellate court, and thereafter with leave of the appellate court.

14 . In such a circumstance, it is true, we would be required to consider whether retroactive application interfered with vested or substantive rights. See Rawlings, 362 Md. at 555, 766 A.2d at 109; Waters Landing Ltd. Partnership v. Montgomery County, 337 Md. 15, 29, 650 A.2d 712, 718 (1994).