Callender v. Skiles

• Decision Date: 17 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-308,98-308
• Citation: 591 N.W.2d 182
• Parties: Charles E. CALLENDER, Appellant, v. Rebecca D. SKILES and Rick L. Skiles, Appellees.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 182

591 N.W.2d 182

Charles E. CALLENDER, Appellant, v. Rebecca D. SKILES and Rick L. Skiles, Appellees.

No. 98-308.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Feb. 17, 1999.

As Amended on Denial of Rehearing April 12, 1999.

Dennis D. Jasper, Bettendorf, for appellant.

R. Douglas Wells and Jim Stein of Wells & Wells, Davenport, for appellee Rebecca D. Skiles.

Cynthia Z. Taylor of Zamora, Taylor & Walters, Davenport, for appellee Rick L. Skiles.

Jill A. Cirivello, Davenport, guardian ad litem for minor child.

Considered en banc.

CADY, Justice.

This anomalous and emotionally charged action was brought against a married couple by a man claiming to be the biological father of a child born to their marriage. He sought to judicially establish paternity, and requested a determination of custody, support, and visitation. The district court eventually dismissed his claim. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Rebecca and Rick Skiles are married. In 1994, they separated for a period of time. During this time, Rebecca began a relationship with a co-worker, Charles Callender. The relationship became intimate, and included sexual intercourse.

Rebecca and Charles eventually ended their relationship. Rebecca and Rick subsequently reconciled, and resumed living together in their marital home.

On June 25, 1995, Rebecca gave birth to a child conceived during the marital separation. Rebecca and Rick named the child Samantha and continued to raise their family in their marital home. Emotional upheaval, however, was not far away.

Six months after Samantha's birth, Charles filed an application with the district court to establish paternity of Samantha, as well as custody, visitation, and child support. He also requested blood testing to determine paternity. The district court ordered the blood tests. The results revealed a 99.98% probability Charles was the biological father of Samantha.

Charles promptly filed an application for visitation following the results of the blood tests. On April 19, 1996, the district court granted limited visitation at a neutral location.

Charles later amended his application to add Rick as a party. He also requested Rick's parental rights to Samantha be terminated. Additional blood tests excluded Rick as the biological father. Rick, however, did not deny paternity in his answer and has not abandoned his parental responsibilities.

Rick eventually moved to dismiss the application, claiming Charles had no standing to commence a paternity action. The district court determined Charles had no standing to bring a paternity claim and dismissed the application. This appeal followed.

Charles claims he is entitled to litigate his claim as an "interested person" under Iowa Code section 600B.8 (1997), or the "established father" under Iowa Code section 600B.41A(3). If not, he asserts the statute deprives him of due process and equal protection under the federal and state constitutions.

I. Standard of Review.

Our review of paternity actions under chapter 600B is for errors at law. Mason v. Hall, 419 N.W.2d 367, 369 (Iowa 1988). Likewise, our review of statutory interpretation is at law. State ex rel. Schuder v. Schuder, 578 N.W.2d 685, 687 (Iowa 1998). Our review of constitutional claims is de novo. Norland v. Grinnell Mut. Reins. Co., 578 N.W.2d 239, 241 (Iowa 1998).

II. Statutory Background.

Paternity may be determined at law or equity in Iowa. See In re Marriage of Stogdill, 428 N.W.2d 667, 670 (Iowa 1988). Our statutes permit the issue to be determined in equity under Iowa Code chapter 252A or chapter 598. Id. It may be determined at law under chapter 600B. Id. At common law, an action to determine paternity was not recognized. State ex rel. Bishop v. Travis, 306 N.W.2d 733, 734 (Iowa 1981); 14 C.J.S. Children Out of Wedlock § 70, at 358 (1991) (right to determine paternity did not exist at common law, but is entirely statutory).

The parties acknowledge chapter 598 and chapter 252A are not applicable to this case. Chapter 598 applies to proceedings in the dissolution of a marriage. See Iowa Code § 598.31. Chapter 252A applies to actions brought by the dependent person for whom the support is sought or by some public representative of the person. See id. § 252A.6; see also id. § 252A.2(9). Thus, our task is to determine whether Charles has a cause of action under chapter 600B.

Chapter 600B generally exists to judicially enforce the recognized obligation of parents to support a child born out of wedlock and not legitimized. Id. § 600B.1. Such proceedings may be initiated "by the mother, or other interested person," or the state authorities "if the child is or is likely to be a public charge." Id. § 600B.8. In the event of the death or disability of the mother, the action may be brought by the child acting through a guardian. Id. The action not only exists to establish paternity and support, but may also lead to a separate equitable proceeding to establish visitation and custody if a judgment of paternity is established. Id. § 600B.40.

To assist in the proceedings, blood tests are available which can result in a rebuttable presumption of paternity. Id. § 600B.41(5). This presumption can only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence. Id. Additionally, our legislature has recently amended chapter 600B to provide for the filing of a petition, not to establish paternity, but to overcome paternity which has previously been established. Id. § 600B.41A. It applies where paternity has been legally established under section 252A.3(8) (by court order, statement of the parents, or by the filing of an affidavit of paternity), by operation of law based on marriage, or as otherwise determined by a court. Id. § 600B.41A(1). However, the petition to overcome paternity can only be filed by "the mother of the child, the established father of the child, the child, or the legal representative" of the parties. Id. § 600B.41A(3)(a)(1). We must determine if the statute permits Charles to file a petition as an "interested person" under section 600B.8 or an "established father of the child" under section 600B.41A.

A. Established Father.

Although the term "established father" is not expressly defined by our legislature, companion statutes make it clear it refers to paternity which has been established by some means authorized by law. See id. § 600B.41A(1); Dye v. Geiger, 554 N.W.2d 538, 539 (Iowa 1996). The law deems Rick to be Samantha's father by virtue of his marriage to Rebecca. ¹ We acknowledge blood tests can lead to the establishment of paternity, but they do not establish paternity without a court order. See id. § 600B.41. Thus, Charles does not become the established father by virtue of the blood tests that have been taken in this case. Rick, not Charles, is the established father of Samantha. Charles is not authorized under section 600B.41A(3) to commence an action to overcome paternity.

B. Interested Person.

Like "established father," the term "interested person" under section 600B.8 is not specifically defined by statute. Charles asserts, however, we have previously used the term to broadly include claims by persons outside a marriage who have developed a close relationship with a child. See In re Ash, 507 N.W.2d 400, 404 (Iowa 1993).

In Ash, we rejected a paternity claim by a man who was not the biological father of a child, but had lived with and cared for the child for several years. Id. In rejecting the equitable parenting doctrine under the circumstances presented, we referred to the claimant as "an interested third party." Id. However, this reference was not made in the context of interpreting section 600B.8, but was merely an attempt to generally identify the claimant's legal relationship with the child. Id.

It is clear our legislature intended chapter 600B as a means to force parents to comply with their obligation to support their children. Iowa Code § 600B.1. The adjudication of paternity is simply an essential prerequisite to the enforcement of that obligation, not an independent proceeding for a putative father to pursue other goals. The chapter does not contemplate that a putative father be included within the persons entitled to bring an action to establish paternity. Instead, it specifically declares the person sought to be declared the father be named in the action as a defendant. Id. § 600B.14. Furthermore, we must give recognition to our legislative distinction between an action to establish paternity and actions to overcome paternity. See Treimer v. Lett, 587 N.W.2d 622 (Iowa App.1998). In this case, paternity had been established by operation of law prior to the time Charles filed his action. Therefore, there is no paternity to establish, and we have previously determined our legislature has not given Charles a right to overcome paternity. Charles is not an "interested person" under section 600B.8.

C. General Equitable Right.

Lastly, Charles argues section 600B.7 gives him a general equitable right to bring his action. This section provides that a proceeding to establish paternity under chapter 600B is not "exclusive of other proceedings that may be available on principles of law or equity." Iowa Code § 600B.7. This section, however, does not help Charles.

Section 600B.7 does not create a separate action for paternity but merely provides that proceedings to establish paternity under the chapter are not exclusive of any other available proceedings. We have combed our statutes and find no other legislative right of action for Charles. Furthermore, we do not recognize any separate equitable parenting principles which would give a person outside a marriage the right to establish paternity. See In re Ash, 507 N.W.2d at 403-05; In re Marriage of Gallagher, 539 N.W.2d 479 (Iowa 1995). Finally, equity does not establish the right to institute a particular action, but merely comes into play when such a right exists and the legal principles do not provide the needed relief.

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