In re Adoption of Scd

• Citation: 186 S.W.3d 225
• Decision Date: 17 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1283.,03-1283.
• Parties: In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF SCD, a Minor.
• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas

Page 225

186 S.W.3d 225

In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF SCD, a Minor.

No. 03-1283.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

June 17, 2004.

Kaye H. McLeod, Little Rock; and Wilson & Associates, by: H. Keith Morrison, Fayetteville, for appellant.

Gilbert Law Firm, by: Melinda R. Gilbert, North Little Rock, for appellee.

Mary M. Rawlins, Mena, attorney ad litem.

TOM GLAZE, Justice.

In this adoption case, we are called upon to decide under what circumstances it is necessary to obtain the consent of a putative father before a child can be adopted pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 9-27-206 (Repl.2002). The record has been filed under seal, and we refer to the parties by their initials: IT is the mother of the child placed for adoption; the KDs, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, are married and are seeking to adopt the baby; and TF is the putative father, who, prior to the baby's birth, registered as the baby's father under the Arkansas Putative Father Registry on May 15, 2003.

Fifteen-year-old IT, a resident of Mena, gave birth to a baby boy on June 2, 2003, and immediately put the baby up for adoption. On June 3, 2003, the KDs filed a petition for temporary guardianship in Pulaski County Circuit Court,¹ and on June 5, 2003, the KDs filed a petition for adoption in Polk County Circuit Court. In the petition, the KDs alleged that only the consent of the mother, IT, and her guardian ad litem was needed for the adoption. The KDs further alleged that TF, the putative father, was only entitled to notice of the adoption petition.

Four days later, on June 9, TF filed a response to the KDs' petition for adoption, and separately, he filed a petition for determination of paternity. In his petition, TF asked the trial court to order paternity testing to determine whether he was the biological father of the child, and he also sought custody of the baby if TF were determined to be the father.

On September 10, 2003, the KDs filed an amended petition for adoption. In it, they alleged again that IT and her guardian ad litem were the only parties who were required to consent. They further asserted that TF's consent was not required because he had not "legitimated" the child, as required by Ark.Code Ann. § 9-9-206(a)(2) (Repl.2002).

On that same date, IT filed a consent to adoption, in which she consented to the adoption of her child by the KDs "conditioned" upon the court's finding TF's consent was not required and that the adoption was found to be in the best interests of the minor child. IT's "conditional" consent further provided that, in the event the court found TF's consent to be required, she "reserve[d] the right to withdraw [her] consent to the adoption and to reserve all parental rights [she] may have to [the] infant, as though [she] had not executed this document." Later, on September 13, 2003, IT signed a second, "unconditional" consent to adoption.

On September 16, 2003, the Polk County Circuit Court held trials on both TF's paternity action and the KDs' adoption petition. At the conclusion of the paternity trial, after having admitted the results of a paternity test that showed a 99.99% probability that TF was the father, the court declared TF to be the baby's father. However, having heard testimony from both IT and TF, the court delayed ruling on the custody issue. Later the same day, the court proceeded with the adoption trial.

The court and counsel for all sides noted that there was no issue about the KDs being appropriate adoptive parents; instead, the issues addressed were 1) whether IT had properly consented to the adoption, and 2) whether TF's consent was required. After hearing testimony, the trial court denied the adoption petition, finding that TF had legitimated the baby in accordance with § 9-9-206(a)(2), and that, consequently, IT and the KDs should have obtained TF's consent prior to the adoption. In its final written order, the court wrote that "[c]onsent of both the child's mother and respondent-father was necessary in order for [the KDs] to prevail herein. They had neither." The court dismissed the KDs' petition for adoption, and from that order, the KDs appeal, raising two points for reversal: 1) TF's consent to the adoption was never required; and 2) the KDs' petition for adoption should have been granted.

In addressing the first point, the court is called upon to determine what the phrase "otherwise legitimated" in § 9-9-206(a)(2) means. Thus, our standard of review is de novo, as it is for this court to decide what a statute means. Greenhough v. Goforth, 354 Ark. 502, 126 S.W.3d 345 (2003). We are not bound by the decision of the trial court, but unless it is shown that the circuit court's interpretation was wrong, we will accept its interpretation on appeal. R.N. v. J.M., 347 Ark. 203, 61 S.W.3d 149 (2001). The purpose of statutory interpretation is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. R.N. v. J.M., supra.

Section 9-9-206(a)(2) establishes the persons required to consent to an adoption, and provides in relevant part as follows:

(a) Unless consent is not required under § 9-9-207, a petition to adopt a minor may be granted only if written consent to a particular adoption has been executed by:

* * * *

(2) The father of the minor if the father was married to the mother at the time the minor was conceived or at any time thereafter, the minor is his child by adoption, he has custody of the minor at the time the petition is filed, or he has otherwise legitimated the minor according to the laws of the place in which the adoption proceeding is brought.

(Emphasis added.) Consent to adoption, however, "is not required of . . . [t]he father of a minor if the father's consent is not required by § 9-9-206(a)(2)." Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-207(a)(3) (Repl.2002).

Here, the trial court determined that TF had "otherwise legitimated" the child because he had timely registered with the Arkansas Putative Father Registry. The statutes governing that registry provide that "the registration of the father with his consent in the . . . registry . . . shall constitute a prima facie case of establishment of paternity, and the burden of proof shall shift to the putative father to rebut such in a proceeding for paternity establishment." Ark.Code Ann. § 9-10-108(b) (Repl.2002). The question before us is whether TF's registry some weeks prior to the birth of his child, coupled with his actions after the baby's birth, were sufficient to "otherwise legitimate" the baby. The KDs assert that the filing of the adoption petition served as a "cutoff date" that barred TF's attempt to subsequently legitimate the child by filing a petition for determination of paternity.

Arkansas has no case law that defines or explains what is meant by "otherwise legitimated." Black's Law Dictionary defines "legitimate" as "to make lawful; to confer legitimacy; e.g., to place a child born before marriage on the legal footing of those born in lawful wedlock." Black's Law Dictionary 901 (6th ed.1990). TF argues — and the trial court ruled — that his signing up with the Putative Father Registry and filing his petition for determination of paternity was sufficient to legitimate the child in this case. TF notes that, after registering with the Putative Father Registry, he never attempted to rebut the presumption of paternity established by that action, and he asserts that he "embraced" that presumption by initiating a proceeding to obtain custody of his child. Further, at the trial on the paternity petition, TF testified that, once IT had decided to keep the baby, he offered to marry her. He also testified that no one informed him of when the baby was born, and that he filed the paternity petition as soon as he found out that the KDs' adoption petition had been filed. Clearly, TF's actions indicate his interest in and willingness to confer legitimacy on the child.

The KDs, on the other hand, argue that the filing of the adoption petition served as a kind of cutoff date to determine the rights of the parties involved, and the fact that TF took actions to legitimate the baby after the adoption petition was filed should be of no moment. It is true that there are Arkansas cases that describe the filing of the adoption petition as a "cutoff date" for determining...