Wilson

Mark O. Wilson (Father) and Tamara S. Bodine (Mother) had a child prior to their marriage. The sole issue presented in this appeal is what effect, if any, does the act of marriage have on a prior child custody support order entered in a paternity action when the child’s parents were unmarried. The trial court ordered Father to pay child support arrearages for a period of time before the marriage, and also for a period of time after Father and Mother separated as married persons. Father appeals the latter portion of the order, asserting it was legal error for the court to rule the marriage did not extinguish the right to child support. We conclude the paternity order was nullified (not extinguished or abated) when Father married Mother. The support order is reversed in part and the matter is remanded for the trial court to calculate the exact sum of arrearages incurred prior to the marriage.

I

Mother and Father were unmarried when their son, J.W., was born in August 2001. In July 2002, Mother obtained a child support order based on a voluntary declaration of paternity (hereafter the Paternity case). 1 The court construed the declaration of paternity as a judgment of…