L.L.M. v. J.M.T.

• Decision Date: 30 March 2007
• Docket Number: 2050744.
• Citation: 964 So.2d 66
• Parties: L.L.M. v. J.M.T.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

964 So.2d 66

L.L.M. v. J.M.T.

2050744.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

March 30, 2007.

D. Milborn Gross, Jr., and Jonathan W. Pippin of Ables Baxter, Parker & Hall, P.C., Huntsville, for appellant.

Stephanie W. Werdehoff of Werdehoff & Werdehoff, Huntsville, for appellee.

THOMAS, Judge.

L.L.M. ("the mother") appeals from a circuit court judgment setting aside as void for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction a juvenile court judgment that adjudicated J.M.T. to be the father of D.L.T. ("the child"), awarded the mother sole physical custody of the child, and ordered J.M.T. to pay child support.

The parties were never married; they lived together from 2002 to 2004. In 2003, the mother gave birth to D.L.T. J.M.T. acknowledged paternity of the child, pursuant to the provisions of the "hospital paternity acknowledgment program," set forth in § 26-17-22, Ala.Code 1975, and his name appears as the name of the child's father on the child's birth certificate.

The parties separated on May 16, 2004. The following day, J.M.T. filed a complaint in the Madison Circuit Court, alleging that he was the legal father of the child, seeking custody of the child, and requesting pendente lite custody and child support from the mother. One week later, the mother filed a petition in the Madison Juvenile Court, requesting that that court establish paternity of the child, award her custody of the child, and order J.M.T. to pay child support.

On June 18, 2004, the parties appeared in the circuit court, stipulated that J.M.T. was the "legal and biological father" of the child, and presented evidence with respect to which party should be awarded custody pendente lite. On June 22, 2004, the circuit court awarded J.M.T. custody pendente lite. However, because there were custody proceedings pending in both the circuit court and the juvenile court, the circuit court requested the parties to file briefs with respect to which court had subject-matter jurisdiction of the case. The circuit court also requested the juvenile court judge to make a recommendation concerning subject-matter jurisdiction. Following its receipt of the parties' briefs and the juvenile judge's recommendation, the circuit court, on September 13, 2004, entered the following order:

"To the extent allowed by law to do so, this case is transferred to the Juvenile Court Division of the District Court of Madison County, Alabama, for proper adjudication of those claims presented herein."

On November 4, 2004, the juvenile court entered a judgment adjudicating J.M.T. to be the father of the child, awarding the parties joint legal custody of the child and the mother sole physical custody of the child, and ordering J.M.T. to pay $376 per month in child support. The mother filed a postjudgment motion on November 16, 2004; the juvenile court denied that motion on November 22, 2004. J.M.T. filed an untimely notice of appeal on December 7, 2004; his appeal was subsequently dismissed.

On January 20, 2005, J.M.T. filed in the circuit court a complaint that he designated as a "Collateral Attack on Void Judgment for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Petition to Reinstate Action to Court's Calendar, and Petition for Custody," alleging that the juvenile court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to "establish paternity," pursuant to § 12-15-31(2), Ala.Code 1975, because, he said, his paternity had already been "established" and was not in dispute. The mother answered, asserting, among other defenses, waiver, the doctrine res judicata, and collateral estoppel. On J.M.T.'s motion, the circuit court entered a partial summary judgment, holding that the juvenile court's November 4, 2004, judgment was void for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and reinstating J.M.T.'s custody petition to the circuit court's active docket. The circuit court made that judgment final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., on February 17, 2006. The mother filed a postjudgment motion on March 17, 2006, which the circuit court denied on April 25, 2006, with an order that states, in pertinent part:

"The Order of Transfer to the Juvenile Court ... was made by this Court based on what this Court now feels to have been a mistake of law regarding the jurisdiction of this Court to hear the case as originally filed by [J.M.T.]. Said decision was made by this Court based on the fact that the parties were unmarried, and that the issue of paternity was disputed, in that an action had been filed by [the mother] in the Juvenile Court ..., which this Court understood to present a bona fide dispute as to the paternity of the parties' minor child. However, this court now understands from the representations of counsel that there was no bona fide dispute regarding the issue of paternity of the parties' minor child, either in the case before this Court (the issue was resolved and stipulated into the record at the pendente lite hearing held before this Court), nor in the underlying case in the Juvenile Court.... The existence of a disputed issue of paternity between unmarried parties was the sole basis on which this Court's Order of Transfer was made to the Juvenile Court.... This Court now feels that said Order of Transfer was based on this Court's mistake of law, and while this Court certainly regrets said mistake, finds that as a result, the Order on Paternity, Custody and Support entered by the Juvenile Court ... was without subject matter jurisdiction; and as a further result, the Order on Paternity, Custody and Support entered by the Juvenile Court on November [4], 2004, is void."

The mother filed a timely notice of appeal on June 6, 2006.

The mother argues that the circuit court correctly transferred the case to the juvenile court because, she says, the juvenile court had exclusive original jurisdiction to adjudicate the paternity of the child pursuant to § 12-15-31(2), Ala.Code 1975 (providing that the juvenile court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction "[i]n proceedings to establish paternity of a child born out of wedlock"), and, thereafter, to decide the issues of custody and child support pursuant to § 12-15-30(b)(1), Ala. Code 1975 (providing that the juvenile court shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction of "[p]roceedings to determine custody ... of a child when the child is otherwise before the court").

J.M.T. contends that there was no paternity dispute to adjudicate because, he says, his paternity of the child had already been established by virtue of his acknowledgment of paternity. He argues that the acknowledgment itself constituted a determination of paternity sufficient to eliminate the juvenile court's subject-matter jurisdiction over the case and to activate the circuit court's general civil subject-matter jurisdiction. In addition, J.M.T. argues that his acknowledgment was "res judicata" as to the matter of the child's paternity. Further, he maintains that when the parties stipulated, in open court during the circuit court's pendente lite hearing, that there was no factual dispute as to paternity, the circuit court was presented with a basis for determining that there was no issue requiring adjudication in the juvenile court.

Discussion

Because the issue in this appeal turns largely on the effect of J.M.T.'s acknowledgment of paternity in the hospital following the birth of the child, we quote, in its entirety, the statute providing for a "hospital paternity acknowledgment program." Section 26-17-22 provides:

"(a) The natural mother and father of a child born to a woman who was unmarried at the time of birth and had not been married or attempted to be married within 300 days prior to the birth may, at any time and place prior to the child's 19th birthday, state and acknowledge that they are the natural parents of the child in an affidavit of paternity signed by both parties before a notary public. Before a mother and a putative father sign an acknowledgment of paternity, the mother and the putative father shall be given notice, orally and in writing, of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and, if one parent is a minor, any rights afforded due to minority status, and responsibilities that arise from signing the acknowledgment. The affidavit shall be on a form prescribed by rule of court and shall include the Social Security number and current address of each parent, a listing of the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity, including the duty to financially support the child, and instruction for filing the affidavit with the Office of Vital Statistics.

"(b) The affidavit of paternity shall be a legally sufficient basis for establishing an obligation for child support and for the expenses of the mother's pregnancy and confinement. The affidavit may be admitted as evidence of paternity in any action to establish a support order or an adjudication of paternity.

"(c) Hospitals that have a licensed obstetric care unit or are licensed to provide obstetric services or licensed birthing centers associated with a hospital shall provide to the mother and alleged father, if he is present in the hospital, during the period immediately preceding or following the birth of a child to an unmarried woman in the hospital, all of the following: (1) Written materials about paternity establishment. (2) Form affidavits of paternity for the purposes of subsection (a) above. (3) A written description of the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity. (4) An opportunity, prior to discharge from the hospital, to speak with a trained person made available through the Department of Human Resources, either by telephone or in person, who can clarify information and answer questions about paternity establishment. The Department of Human Resources shall make materials available without cost to the hospitals. If the mother and father complete the affidavit in the hospital, the hospital shall send the affidavit of paternity to the Office of Vital Statistics with...