Burrow v. Vrontikis, 880098-CA

• Decision Date: 07 March 1990
• Docket Number: No. 880098-CA,880098-CA
• Citation: 788 P.2d 1046
• Parties: Vickie BURROW, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Mark VRONTIKIS, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 1046

788 P.2d 1046

Vickie BURROW, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Mark VRONTIKIS, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 880098-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

March 7, 1990.

Thomas N. Arnett, Jr., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and appellant.

Jerome H. Mooney, Salt Lake City, for defendant and respondent.

Before BILLINGS, GARFF and GREENWOOD, JJ.

GARFF, Judge:

Appellant Vickie Burrow requests reversal of the trial court's determination that she is not entitled to child support accrued prior to the filing of her paternity action from defendant and respondent, Mark Vrontikis. We affirm.

Appellant is the mother of a male child born on August 17, 1976. Respondent admits that he is the child's father. The child was conceived when the parties were unmarried and engaged in a dating relationship. When appellant informed respondent that she might be pregnant in March 1976, respondent indicated that he was unwilling to make any commitment either to her or to the child, but was willing to pay for an abortion.

The parties had no further contact with each other from March 1976 until January 1983. Appellant determined that she would give birth to the child and rear him herself. The parties had a mutual friend, William Snape, whose wife was a close friend of appellant. Consequently, Snape maintained contact with appellant on a regular basis until he and his wife were divorced a few years later. Appellant knew that Snape had frequent contact with respondent. Appellant testified that she told Snape she did not ever want to see respondent again, but stated that she did not ask Snape to relay this information to respondent. Nevertheless, Snape told respondent that appellant did not wish to see him again. The trial court found that appellant knew or should have known that Snape would communicate these comments to respondent.

Relying upon appellant's comments, respondent did not contact appellant or the child, and later married and incurred various financial obligations. Meanwhile, appellant married, had two other children, divorced, and was experiencing financial difficulties at the time she initiated this action.

In May 1983, seven years after the child's birth, appellant brought a paternity action against respondent, seeking back child support payments. On September 18, 1984, the trial court declared respondent to be the child's father and awarded judgment against him for child support from June 1, 1979 through May 31, 1983, in the amount of $7,200. In awarding judgment, the court reasoned that it was bound by the case of Zito v. Butler, 584 P.2d 868 (Utah 1978) (per curiam), which held that the doctrine of laches was not applicable in a statutory action. On this basis, respondent appealed the trial court's order.

During the pendency of respondent's appeal, the Utah Supreme Court, in Borland v. Chandler, 733 P.2d 144 (Utah 1987), overruled Zito. We then reversed this case on the basis of Borland, and remanded it to the trial court for consideration as to whether laches and/or estoppel barred appellant's claim for back child support.

On remand, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing and found that: (1) appellant unreasonably delayed in filing her claim for support; (2) this delay was more than mere silence because of appellant's representations to Snape; (3) respondent reasonably relied upon these representations, and so married and assumed additional financial obligations; and, therefore, (4) appellant's claim was barred by the doctrine of laches and/or equitable estoppel. Appellant brought this appeal to determine if the doctrines of laches and/or estoppel apply to the facts of this case.

In a civil bench trial, the trial court's findings of fact will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. Utah R.Civ.P. 52(a); Copper State Leasing Co. v. Blacker Appliance & Furniture Co., 770 P.2d 88, 93 (Utah 1988), and we will regard a finding as clearly erroneous only if the finding is without adequate evidentiary support or induced by an erroneous view of the law. Western Capital and Sec., Inc. v. Knudsvig, 768 P.2d 989, 991 (Utah Ct.App.1989).

The first time this matter was before this court, we held, in an unpublished opinion issued October 15, 1987, that an equitable defense was available in a paternity action. On that basis, we remanded the case to the trial court for it to determine if laches and/or estoppel would permit recovery of back child support. That decision is the law of this case. See Amica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Schettler, 768 P.2d 950, 969 (Utah Ct.App.1989)....