Mississippi State Dept. of Human Services v. Barnett

• Decision Date: 23 December 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-CA-0751,92-CA-0751
• Citation: 633 So.2d 430
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI STATE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES v. Timothy A. BARNETT.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 430

633 So.2d 430

MISSISSIPPI STATE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES v. Timothy A. BARNETT.

No. 92-CA-0751.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Dec. 23, 1993.

Rehearing Denied March 17, 1994.

M. Earl Scales, Jackson, for appellant.

William Larry Latham, Hrmine M. Welch, Jackson, for appellee.

Before PRATHER, P.J., and SULLIVAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.

JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., Justice, for the Court:

The Mississippi Department of Human Services, hereinafter "DHS" or "the Department," appeals from a final judgment entered on June 9, 1992, by the Chancery Court of Bolivar County, Mississippi, granting DHS' Motion of Intervention while contemporaneously denying as moot its Motion For Blood Tests and also, in the wake of plaintiffs' Motion Ore Tenus for a final judgment of dismissal, dismissing the matter with prejudice upon a finding of a negotiated settlement between the original parties to the action.

The original parties to the action were the plaintiffs, Betty Jean Banks and her three (3) minor children, and the defendant, Timothy A. Barnett, the putative father of Banks' children. Specifically, the chancellor dismissed the action with prejudice as to all rights of the plaintiffs (Ms. Banks and the minor children) and intervenor (the DHS) "[w]ith the exception of the Department's right with respect to the amount of any unpaid support obligation that accrued under lawful assignment to the extent of the amount of past assistance paid to Plaintiff by the Department which has not been reimbursed to the Department."

The underlying cause of action--that of paternity--was settled through the means of the doubtful claim statute, Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 93-13-59. A negotiated settlement was reached by Ms. Banks and Mr. Barnett. The DHS was not a party to the guardianship procedure in which all claims between the original parties were decided, nor was it a party to the negotiations that preceded settlement.

The DHS contends on appeal (1) the chancellor erred when he granted the Department's motion of intervention while, at the same time and in the same instrument, dismissing the paternity and child support action with prejudice upon a finding of settlement between Ms. Banks and Barnett, and (2) the chancellor erred when he granted to Ms. Banks, the duly appointed guardian of the minor children and a recipient of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the authority to settle the unliquidated claims of the minor children against Barnett, the putative father, without the knowledge of, participation in, or approval of, the Department. It is the position of the Department that it had a vital interest in the outcome of this cause and was denied a meaningful opportunity to effectively intervene. We agree.

Two (2) separate proceedings, both inextricably interwoven, were initiated in the lower courts either by, or on behalf of, Betty Jean Banks. They were:

1. LaShondra D. Banks, LaToya D. Banks and LaBroderick D. Banks, Minors, By and Through Their Mother and Next Friend, Betty Jean Banks v. Timothy A. Barnett, Cause Number 9420 in the 2. In the Matter of the Estate of LaShondra D. Banks, LaToya D. Banks, and LaBroderick D. Banks, Minors, By and Through Their Mother and Next Friend, Betty Jean Banks, Cause Number 9572 in the Chancery Court of Bolivar County, Mississippi (hereinafter referred to as "the guardianship case").

Chancery Court of Bolivar County, Mississippi (hereinafter referred to as "the paternity case"); and

The chancellor found as a fact that

1. Betty Jean Banks is a recipient of Aid for Dependent Children on behalf of the aforesaid minor children and by virtue of Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 43-19-35 (1972) has made an assignment to the State Department of Human Services for the period of time assistance is being paid by said department;

2. The Mississippi Department of Human Services is a party in interest in this cause and should be allowed to intervene so this Court can consider their interest fully;

3. Betty Jean Banks has renounced her right to any further Aid for Dependent Children on behalf of the aforesaid minors in open Court at the time of her appearance herein on June 4, 1992;

....

9. The Department of Human Services' interest in this case was fully considered by this Court as an Intervenor before this Court proceeded to appoint Ms. Banks as Guardian or consider and approve the settlement on behalf of the minors;

The dismissal of the action, with prejudice, upon a finding by the chancellor of settlement between the original parties effectively impaired or impeded, if not precluded, the intervenor, i.e., the DHS, from fully asserting its claim and protecting its interest. The Department was denied a meaningful opportunity to intervene in the lawsuit and settlement process and to assert, adjudicate, and enforce its rights under its statutory assignment. The DHS should have been made a party to the action. Because it was not, we reverse, render, and remand.

FACTS

Betty Jean Banks, a single woman, is the natural mother of three (3) children, each born out of wedlock: LaShondra D. Banks, born January 19, 1985; LaToya D. Banks, born February 7, 1987, and LaBroderick D. Banks, born January 24, 1988. Ms. Banks, single and unmarried when the minors were born, was the recipient of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in the amount of $144.00 per month, food stamps in the amount of $352.00 per month, as well as Medicaid benefits. Ms. Banks first began receiving AFDC in 1985. She was a recipient until she renounced her rights to aid on the day of court, June 4, 1992.

Timothy A. Barnett, a former resident of Gunnison, Mississippi, is a professional football player for the Kansas City Chiefs organization. He had recently been drafted by the Chiefs and was attending training camp when he became the target of a paternity suit filed by Banks. At the time of the trial, Barnett was married and residing with his wife in Overland Park, Kansas.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services, formerly the Mississippi Department of Public Welfare, is a State agency that sought to intervene in the present action through its Division of Child Support Enforcement.

On July 24, 1991, Banks, by and through her private attorney, Thomas Morris, Sr., initiated, as next friend and mother of the minor children, a Complaint in the nature of a paternity suit which was filed in Bolivar County, Mississippi, on behalf of the children. Banks named Barnett as the defendant and sought to establish paternity and to obtain an award of child support.

By virtue of a state statute, Miss.Code Ann. (1972) Sec. 43-19-35 (Supp.1992) Banks, as a recipient of public aid, had assigned to the Department "[a]ny and all rights and interests in any cause of action past, present, or future, that [the] recipient or the children may have against any parent failing to provide for the support and maintenance of said minor child or children for the period of time that assistance is being paid by said department." The Complaint, which was filed over On October 3, 1991, the chancellor, pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. (1972) Sec. 93-9-21 (Supp.1992), entered an Order Directing Blood Test. Although the chancellor ordered all parties to submit to genetic blood testing, no tests were ever performed, and Banks did not seek to enforce the order. Rather, Banks and Barnett continued to negotiate for a settlement without litigation to determine paternity.

three (3) years after the birth of Banks' last child, alleges in paragraph V. that "[d]efendant was recently drafted into the National Football League by the Kansas City Chiefs and is more than able to provide for the maintenance and support of his minor children."

On October 9, 1991, Barnett filed his Answer affirmatively asserting "[t]hat he is not the father of LaShondra D. Banks, LaToya D. Banks and LaBroderick D. Banks; and, as to the issue of paternity, [he] demands trial by jury."

The Department claims it was not aware of the ongoing litigation between Banks and Barnett until the first week of June, 1992. On June 2nd, nearly a year after Banks filed her complaint, the Department, by and through its IV-D Division of Child Support Enforcement, filed in the paternity case its Motion of Intervention and for Blood Tests setting forth its statutory authority and interest in the action and requesting an additional court order for blood testing. Neither Ms. Banks nor any of her children ever appeared for blood testing, and her lawyer never made a demand for compliance with the chancellor's order directing blood tests.

Prior to the Department's motion of intervention, the usual discovery was initiated, and appropriate responses were filed. This eventually led to a negotiated settlement of almost all issues on June 4, 1992, two (2) days after the Department moved to intervene. On that day the chancellor, after Ms. Banks had renounced her entitlement to AFDC, entered a decree in the guardianship case approving the settlement.

To facilitate the settlement, an ancillary proceeding, the guardianship case, had been initiated in the same Court for the purpose of establishing the mother as the lawful guardian of the minor children. On June 4, 1992, Ms. Banks, by virtue of the authority found in Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 93-13-59 filed in Cause Number 9572, the guardianship case, a "Petition for Appointment of General Guardian" and a "Petition for Authority to Settle Unliquidated Claim of Minor." Attached to the latter pleading as Exhibit A was a "Schedule of Compensation" and an "Absolute Release With Covenants." Under the terms of the release with covenants Ms. Banks, as her children's legal guardian, and Mr. Barnett, as the putative father and defendant below, agreed to the acceptance of a financial arrangement in return for a release of further proceedings and a forbearance of future litigation against Barnett.

The Chancery Court of Bolivar County made a fact determination that Ms. Banks was a fit and...