LISA I. v. Superior Court

INTRODUCTION

We are called upon to consider whether a claimed biological father of a child bom within 300 days of the mother’s divorce from another man has standing under Family Code section 7630 to declare his paternity of that child. The child was conceived while the mother was married but separated from her husband, was born after the mother’s divorce, and is being raised by the mother and ex-husband, along with their two other children. The claimed biological father contends that applying the statutory paternity presumptions and standing requirements to deprive him of the opportunity to establish his paternity would violate a liberty interest protected by the United States Constitution.

We conclude that California’s statutory presumptions and standing rules do not violate the biological father’s constitutional rights where the biological father has no existing relationship with the child. Accordingly, we grant the mother’s writ petition and direct the trial court to grant her motion to quash the paternity action.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Lisa L, the petitioner here, and Guy were married in October 1993; by 1997, they had two sons. In 2003, while she was…