Knauer v. BarnettKnauer v. Barnett
This cause is a petition for writ of certiorari to review a decision of the District Court of Appeal, First District, reported at 336 So.2d 1213, which is alleged to be in conflict with In re McCollum‘s Estate, 88 So.2d 537 (Fla. 1956) and Taylor v. Taylor, 279 So.2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973).1
William R. Barnett, respondent/trustee here, sought a declaratory judgment in the Circuit Court for Duval County, Florida, to determine the parties entitled to receive the income and corpus of a trust previously held for the benefit of William L‘Engle Barnett (hereinafter referred to as William Barnett). Under the terms of a trust document executed by William in 1959, the income and corpus are distributable to the surviving “blood issue” of William Barnett or to the collateral kindred of William if no blood issue exists. Charles Barnett, who claims to be the sоn and blood issue of William, was a defendant in the suit below and is a respondent in the instant proceeding. The collateral kindred of William, who claim that he had no blood issue and, consequently, that they are entitled to the trust property, are petitioners here. The issue before the lower courts and here is whether Charles is the blood issue of William under a construction of
Every illegitimate child is аn heir of his mother, and also of the person who, in writing, signed in the presence of a competent witness, acknowledges himself to be the father. Such illegitimate child shall inherit from his mother and also, when so recognized, from his father, in the same manner as if the child had been born in lawful wedlock. However, such illegitimate child does not represent his father or mother by inheriting any part of the estate of the parents’ kindred, either lineal or collateral, unless his parents have intermarried, in which event such illegitimate child shall be deemed legitimate for all purposes.
The trial judge construed the statute to render the parentage of Charles a factual issue to be resolved in the declaratory judgment proceeding even though William had executed a written, attested document аcknowledging himself to be the father of Charles and had married Charles’ mother, Marcelle. The judge concluded that because the provision refers to subsequent intermarriage of the parents, such means the child‘s natural (biological) parents, thereby leaving open to future adjudication the question of whether the acknowledging and marrying “father” was, in fact, the natural parent of the child. The deсision of the district court under review recites the evidence upon which the circuit judge based his finding that Charles is not the blood issue of William:
Charles Barnett was born in Paris, France, on May 28, 1913, to Marcelle Perron, who was then 19 years old according to the official French record of his birth. On June 12, 1913, he was baptized in the Church of the Parish of St. Sulpice, Archbishopry of Paris, and his baptism was noted in the church‘s Baрtismal Register with the space for his father‘s name left blank. In both the official civil and church records, Charles was originally identified as “Charles Perron.”
On August 13, 1918, William L‘Engle Barnett and Marcelle appeared before Deputy Mayor Christie of the 17th District of Paris and declared in the presence of witnesses that they “recognize as their son” the child Charles, born to Marcelle on May 28, 1913. An official entry of this act of recognition was made in the birth records of the 17th District of Paris and was signed by William, Marcelle, two witnesses and the Deputy Mayor. Four days later, on August 17, 1918, William and Marcelle appeared again before Deputy Mayor Christie, and he performed their lawful marriage, recording it in the official records. At the time of the marriage, Deputy Mayor Christie delivered to William the “Livret de Famille” the official family booklet required by French law to be retained by the head of each family as the official record of the family members. In that booklet, Deputy Mayor Christie officially recorded the marriage of William and Marcelle on August 17, 1918, and the birth of their child Charles
on May 28, 1913, affixing his seal and signature. On July 1, 1920, William and Marcelle caused Charles’ official birth record to be corrected to change his name from Charles Pеrron to Charles Barnett. The French official corrected the original birth record by striking through the name “Perron” and writing above it the name “Barnett” and by writing on the original birth record the following:
“Recognized the 13 August 1918, at the courthouse of the 17th district of Paris by William Barnett & Marcelle Amelie Anna Perron”
and
“Legitimized by marriage of William Barnett & of Marcelle Amelie Anna Perron, celebrated at the courthouse of the 17th district of Paris, the 17 August 1918.”
On September 10, 1921, William and Marcelle caused the Baptismal Register of the Church of the Parish of St. Sulpice to be rectified to show “William Barnett” as the father of Charles and to change the name in the record from “Charles Perron” to “Charles Barnett.” The change was made by striking through the name “Perron” and writing above it the name “Barnett” and by noting on the original record that it has been “rectified at the archbishopry on the 10 Sept. 1921.” Also on September 10, 1921, William and Marcelle obtained a certificate from the Secretary of the Archbishopry certifying the baptism on June 12, 1913, of Charles, born May 28, 1913, the son of William and Marcelle.
On October 2, 1922, William and Marcelle placed Charles in the College Chaptal in Paris, where he received his formal education at their expense until November 7, 1928. During part of that time, William and Marcelle livеd in Paris, and Charles lived with them.
On June 5, 1926, William was issued an identity card by the Paris police which showed him to be an American citizen with a Paris residence, and listed Marcelle as his spouse and Charles, born 1913 in Paris, as his child. A similar identity card was issued at the same time to Marcelle.
On November 7, 1928, Charles left France, traveling with William and Marcelle, and arrived in the United States on November 13, 1928. The three then drove from New York to William‘s home in Tangerine, Florida. Upon his arrival in Florida, Charles was registered in the Mt. Dora High School as the son of William L‘Engle Barnett of Tangerine from which he graduated in the spring of 1930. In September, 1930, William took Charles to Gainesville and enrolled him in the University of Florida paying his tuition and living expenses. Between November, 1928, and September, 1930, Charles lived with William and Marcelle in the family home in Tangerine.
On August 25, 1933, William аnd Marcelle swore before a notary public that a petition prepared for filing with the French government was true in stating that Charles had been “acknowledged by the said William L‘Engle Barnett as his son.” This was for the purpose of obtaining Charles’ release of allegiance to the French government preparatory to establishing his United States citizenship. On July 16, 1934, William and Marcelle executеd a sworn affidavit for filing with the governments of the United States and France referring to Charles Barnett as “their son” and stating that Charles Barnett had been “acknowledged by the said William L‘Engle Barnett as his son.” On February 9, 1935, William signed his name in the blank for “father” on Charles’ passport application and swore, before a Deputy United States Court Clerk, in an affidavit of birth to be submitted with Charles’ application for pаssport, that Charles “is my son.” 336 So.2d at 1215-16.
The evidence also revealed that Charles and his parents became estranged around 1940 due, in part, to the marriage of Charles to a woman of whom his parents did not approve. During this period of estrangement, which continued until William‘s death, William began referring to
On appeal, the district court reversed and remanded the cause, finding that the circuit judge had erroneously construed
This construction in our view nullifies the obvious intent of the statute which was to lay at rest the question of legitimacy when the reputed father acknowledges the child before a witness and marries the mother. We do not believe it was the legislative intent to leave this quеstion dangling for future litigation many years later (usually at the death of the father) when the problem of proof, though it could be difficult enough at the time of acknowledgment and marriage, would be far more difficult in later years. In this connection,
§ 742.091, Fla. Stat. (1973) , a part of the bastardy statute, should be considered in pari materia with§ 731.29(1) , supra.§ 742.091 states as follows:“If the mother of any bastard child and the reputed father shall at any time after its birth intermаrry, the child shall in all respects be deemed and held legitimate, and upon the payment of all costs and attorney fees as determined by the court, the cause shall be dismissed and the bond provided for in
§ 742.021 shall be void ...”It is significant that the foregoing statute provides that if the mother and the reputed father should at any time after its birth intermarry, the child shall be deemed and held legitimate. Obviously, the legislature meant the “reputed father” and the mother in relation to both statutes and did not intend by use of the word “parents” in one to open the question of parentage to later attack by collateral kin. 336 So.2d at 1216-17 (emphasis in original).
The district court reasoned that upon acknowledgment and marriage Charles became a legitimate child of the marriage between William and Marcelle and achieved the same status as a child born in wedlock. Duе to the presumption that a child born in wedlock is the blood issue of the partners of such marriage, an individual who seeks to challenge the legitimacy of such a child has a strong, albeit rebuttable, presumption of legitimacy to overcome. The court concluded that although the husband and reputed father has the right to challenge the parentage of a child who has been legitimatized by compliance with the provisions of
We agree with the district court that the legislature intended that, upon acknowledgment by the reputed father and his marriage to the natural mother pursuant to the provisions of
This conclusion follows from a reading of
To bе contrasted are proceedings for determination of paternity pursuant to Sections
Obviously, the legislature meant the “reputed father” and the mother in relation to both statutes [Section 731.29(1) and Section 742.091] and did not intend by use of the word “parents” in one [Section 731.29(1)] to open the question of parentage to later attack by collateral kin. 336 So.2d at 1216-17 (emphasis in original).
By virtue of his formal acknowledgment of paternity with respect to Charles, William certainly achieved the status of a “reputed father” in the sense contemplated by
Petitioners rely upon In re McCollum‘s Estate, supra, in support of their contention that the provision in
The factual situation in Taylor was totally different from that in the case sub judice, it being a divorcе case in which the child was conceived before marriage and was born in wedlock. The husband contended (successfully) that he was not the father. In our view, it was unnecessary for the court to construe the aforesaid statute in the manner in which it did in order that the husband be allowed to contest the fatherhood of the child as we will subsequently point out. We disagree with the Fourth District Court‘s construction of the statute. 336 So.2d at 1217 (emphasis in original).
As was acknowledged by the district court in the case sub judice, the father of a child born in wedlock has the right to challenge the parentage of that child despite the presumption that it is the legitimate issue of his marriage to its mother. Eldridge v. Eldridge, 153 Fla. 873, 16 So.2d 163 (1944). It clearly is not in the best interests of a legitimate child to permit its father to later challenge the fact of paternity. However, this right is accorded the father of a legitimate child in order that he may not be inequitably saddled with the emotional and financial responsibilities of parenthood when he is not, in fact, the parent of the child.
Since our decision in Gammon v. Cobb, 335 So.2d 261 (Fla. 1976), the right to challenge the legitimacy of a child conceived to a married woman was extended to its mother as well. The basis of our decision was the achievement of equal protection of the law for such a child. Previously, “the anomalous situation exist[ed] where the reputed father of an illegitimate child born to his wife [could] attack the child‘s parentage and be relieved of the obligation to support the child, but at the same time the wife [could] not maintain a suit to compel the putative or natural father to provide support for the child.” 335 So.2d at 265. Although the right to challenge a child‘s legitimacy was extended to the mother in Gammon, the welfare of the child was the сontrolling policy — the extension of the right meant that the married mother could seek support for the child in a situation in which previously she was not allowed to do so.
Eldridge and Gammon both rest on strong policy reasons which countervail the policy of legitimatizing children. To permit the collateral kindred of William to challenge the parentage of Charles, however, is not supported by any such policy considerations and would seriously undermine the status of every child born out of wedlock who is subsequently legitimatized by acknowledgment and intermarriage pursuant to
Petitioners have forcefully argued that subsequent to his estrangement from Charles, William Barnett did not consider Charles to be his son. Consequently, William purportedly did not intend, by use of the term “blood issue,” that Charles receive the trust assets should he survive the death of the former. This Court is cognizant of the well-established рrinciple that the intent of the settlor of a trust is controlling. West Coast Hospital Ass‘n v. Florida National Bank, 100 So.2d 807 (Fla. 1958); Watson v. St. Petersburg Bank & Trust Co., 146 So.2d 383 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962). However, unless the trust instrument is ambiguous the intent of the settlor must be ascertained from that which lies within the four corners of the instrument itself, and no extrinsic evidence of the settlor‘s intent is admissible. See Travis v. Ashton, 156 Fla. 529, 23 So.2d 725 (1945); Pentland v. Pentland, 113 So.2d 872 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959). In the case at bar William Barnett directed that the trust assets should be distributed
Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is granted. In view of this Court‘s decision in Gammon v. Cobb, supra, that part of the decision of the District Court of Appeal, First District, concluding that the mother of a child which is legitimatized pursuant to the provisions of
It is so ordered.
OVERTON, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD and ENGLAND, JJ., concur.