Tom SANCHEZ, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. L.D.S. SOCIAL SERVICES, Defendant and Respondent.
No. 17698.
Supreme Court of Utah.
April 12, 1984.
680 P.2d 753
Draney testified that he did not allow execution of the deeds until he was satisfied that plaintiff (an octogenarian) knew the nature of the transfer, the object of his bounty, what he was transferring, and that it would be irrevocable. Also, he said that the plaintiff was not under pressure, and that he was competent. After the deeds were executed and recorded, the brother relationship was good until the plaintiff, shortly thereafter, went to live with people named Houston. About a week or so thereafter, plaintiff signed an affidavit, roughly drawn by Mrs. Houston and prepared by a new attorney in which he purportedly attempted to rescind the deeds. He recorded the affidavit and about six months later filed this suit. From the time he went to live with the Houstons, the latter denied defendant access to the plaintiff.
The affidavit asserted that his brother “tricked” him into signing the deeds and that in fact he intended that his stepson, and grand stepchildren should have the property; that his brother told him his stepson was stealing from him, which is the reason he signed the deeds.
Plaintiff‘s entire claim is based on the alleged “trickery” and “bad faith” and violation of a “confidential relation” by the defendant, and plaintiff‘s deposition mostly is devoted to invectives hurled at his brother whom he labelled a “crook,” “liar” and the like. Strangely enough, he testified he had no confidence in his brother and paid no attention to him, but now claims there was a breach of the “confidential relationship.”
The trial court found plaintiff was not incompetent when he signed the deeds. The court also found that Draney professionally represented him, without any connection with plaintiff‘s brother professionally or otherwise; that there was no evidence of confidential relationship, or fraud, undue influence, or domination practiced by defendant; that the property deeded was but a part of plaintiff‘s estate and did not disinherit his stepson (whom the plaintiff legally adopted after this suit was filed); that plaintiff‘s counsel was adequate and advised plaintiff fully before signing of the deeds; and that the plaintiff effected the transfer freely and of his own volition.
The record reveals no abuse of discretion by the trial court, but reveals an abundance of substantial evidence that under the rules impels us to affirm the judgment, which is the order of this Court.
Allen M. Swan, Salt Lake City, for defendant and respondent.
STEWART, Justice:
The plaintiff, Tom Sanchez, appeals a dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain custody of the child he fathered who, born out of wedlock, is now over three years old. The mother had given the child up to defendant L.D.S. Social Services to be placed for adoption. The district court dismissed Sanchez‘s petition on the ground that he had abandoned the child pursuant to the terms of
(a) A person who is the father or claims to be the father of an illegitimate child may claim rights pertaining to his paternity of the child by registering with the bureau of vital statistics of the division of health, Utah department of social services, a notice of his claim of paternity of an illegitimate child and of his willingness and intent to support the child to the best of his ability....
(b) The notice may be registered prior to the birth of the child but must be registered prior to the date the illegitimate child is relinquished or placed with an agency licensed to provide adoption services....
(c) Any father of such child who fails to file and register his notice of claim to paternity and his agreement to support the child shall be barred from thereafter bringing or maintaining any action to establish his paternity of the child. Such failure shall further constitute an abandonment of said child and a waiver and surrender of any right to notice of or to a hearing in any judicial proceeding for the adoption of said child, and the consent of such father to the adoption of such child shall not be required.
C.S.M., the child‘s natural mother, began dating Sanchez in the fall of 1979. From December, 1979, until March, 1980, she lived much of the time at Sanchez‘s apartment, during which time she became pregnant by him. On several occasions, before, during, and after the pregnancy, Sanchez proposed marriage, but she refused. Sanchez also expressed his desire to have her and the baby live with him after the birth. Prior to the child‘s birth, the mother told Sanchez that she might give the baby up for adoption. Both she and Sanchez discussed the problems presented by the expected child with a counselor at L.D.S. Social Services. The counselor did not inform Sanchez of the statutory right that he could assert by complying with the statutory filing requirement.
Sanchez contends that because
The dissent concedes the facial constitutionality of
The consequence of the position asserted by the dissent would be to promote litigation in a number of adoption cases, thereby holding the rights of putative adoptive parents, and the rights of the natural mother, whatever they may be, in limbo while the courts undertake to make a decision based on criteria nowhere articulated by the dissent, but which would, no doubt, involve the degree of the father‘s diligence and sincerity in trying to establish his parental rights, factors which are foreign to the statutory provisions. The damage done by the actual and potential disruption of the adoption system by protracted litigation of such cases would be especially incalculable as to the children involved. The harm caused to infants, who need stable relationships with adults for the psychological bonding necessary for their well-being and character development, could be incurable.
Marriage is the institution established by society for the procreation and rearing of children. Those who conceive children outside the bonds of marriage may be loving parents, but experience teaches that the number of illegitimate children born each year contribute disproportionately to many
Affirmed. Costs to respondent.
HALL, C.J., and HOWE, J., concur.
DURHAM, Justice (dissenting):
I dissent from the holding of the majority opinion. The facts in this case are distinguishable from those in Wells v. Children‘s Aid Society of Utah, Utah, 681 P.2d 199 (1984). I believe that the factual differences warrant a different result and that the appellant is entitled to further hearing before his parental rights can be effectively terminated by application of the statutory presumption of abandonment.
As we discussed at length in Wells, supra, the requirements of
Unlike the unwed father in Wells, the appellant here, who had asserted his interest to the mother throughout the pregnancy and had repeatedly asked her to marry him, was not informed of her intent to release the child for adoption until after it was too late for him to meet the statutory filing deadline. Furthermore, the appellant had no knowledge of his statutory obligation, nor was he advised of its existence, unlike the father in Wells. He publicly acknowledged paternity throughout the pregnancy and personally informed the adoption agency of his opposition to adoption and desire for custody.1 He attempted to sign the child‘s birth certificate before the child left the hospital (but was prevented from doing so by the natural mother‘s failure to consent), and he filed a notice of paternity within hours of learning of the statutory requirement (which he discovered upon consultation with an attorney) and within five days of the child‘s birth. No adoption petition had been filed, and the child was less than a week old when appellant commenced court proceedings. Unlike the paternal claimant in Wells, who had benefit of legal counsel and who knew of his statutory obligation well in advance of birth but nevertheless took no steps to secure his rights until it was too late, appellant here behaved throughout in a manner consistent with that of a concerned, committed father.
Utah‘s registration statute was designed to facilitate permanent and secure placements for newborn children whose unwed fathers take no steps to identify themselves promptly and acknowledge paternity. It was not created to encourage a “race” for placement to cut off the rights of fathers who are identified and present, but who are hours late in registering their claims because of ignorance of their statutory obligation. I believe that to apply the statutory bar against appellant in these circumstances contravenes all notions of fairness and due process under
The majority opinion mistakenly insists that the protection of appellant‘s rights advocated herein would “promote litigation in a number of adoption cases” and discusses at some length the damage and potential disruption that would result. I share the majority‘s commitment to permanency and stability in newborn placements. I believe it erroneously claims that a mechanical application of the statute, without regard for fundamental fairness, such as has occurred here, will prevent litigation and promote stability in the vast majority of adoptive settings. Under our statutory scheme, notice of adoption proceedings must be sent to all unwed fathers who have registered their interests. Those fathers are fully entitled to the right to consent to the adoption or to withhold consent, unless neglect, abuse or abandonment has been shown, just as are unwed mothers. It is interesting to note that under our system the first time anyone is obligated to check for a father‘s acknowledgment with the Bureau of Vital Statistics is “in the adoption proceeding,”
Thus, the potential for “disruption” is a part of the statutory scheme itself, and denying this appellant a hearing he would have been entitled to automatically if he had known of his obligation and filed 24 hours earlier does not promote any problems not already inherent in the statute. The majority appears to characterize Utah‘s statute in almost a punitive light, as being designed to cut off in stringent fashion the rights of all unwed fathers as quickly as possible because “illegitimate children born each year contribute disproportionately to many of the serious social problems with which society must cope.” On the contrary, the statute appears to have been designed to cut off the rights of unknown, uncaring and uncommitted unwed fathers in order to protect the adoption process. In contrast, the rights afforded unwed fathers who comply with the statute appear to be coextensive with those of unwed mothers, thus belying any punitive intent by the Legislature. The unusual degree of disruption that this opinion‘s rationale might cause in this case would be a function of the trial court‘s failure, which I believe was erroneous, to treat this appellant as having substantially complied with the statute. This failure is the cause of the long delays necessary for resolution of these difficult legal issues, none of which are attributable to the appellant and none of which are likely to arise frequently in the routine operation of the statute and the adoption process. Our holding in Wells demonstrates that only in the rarest of circumstances are unwed fathers likely to be able to raise legitimate claims regarding the application of the statute. I believe such circumstances were shown in this case.
Appellant‘s rights as a natural parent should not have been foreclosed on these facts without a hearing on the question of the termination of those rights. Since the majority opinion does not permit such a hearing, I will not discuss the procedural context of the standards for termination that I believe would be applicable.
Having disqualified himself, Justice Oaks took no part in the final decision of this case.