Solano County Health & Social Services Department v. Adrian L.

Appellant Adrian L. executed a voluntary declaration of paternity upon the birth of J.L. and lived with J.L. and his mother, Kristi G. (Mother), for the first year of J.L.’s life. When J.L. was 13 months old, Adrian and Mother left without warning on a trip to Mexico, abandoning J.L. with friends. As a result, the Solano County Health and Social Services Department (Agency) detained J.L. and filed a petition under section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

*1015 Within two weeks after J.L. was abandoned, before Adrian and Mother had returned from Mexico, Christopher W. appeared at a hearing and told the juvenile court that he suspected he was JJL.’s biological father. After the results of a paternity test confirmed this suspicion, the court adjudged Christopher to be J.L.’s legal father.

Because Adrian had been jailed immediately upon his return from Mexico on the basis of Mother’s allegations of kidnapping, Adrian’s claim to presumed paternity arising from the voluntary declaration was not brought to the court’s attention until substantially later in the proceedings. After being informed of Adrian’s claim, the juvenile court set aside its voluntary declaration…