A.A. v. C.H. and J.H.

Summary

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals considers whether a putative father was the presumed father of a child under Ala. Code § 26-17-204(a), after a juvenile court awarded custody to the child's maternal relatives. The court holds that an attempted marriage supported by an authorized marriage certificate may satisfy the statute's requirement that the marriage be entered into in apparent compliance with law, even if the marriage was invalid because of bigamy. The court reverses the juvenile court's judgment and remands for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. Although the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to void the marriage, it could examine the marriage's validity as necessary to determine whether A.A. was the child's legal or presumed father and whether the child was dependent.
2. A.A. was the child's presumed father because he and the mother attempted to marry in apparent compliance with law, even though the marriage could be invalidated as bigamous.
3. The juvenile court also erred in finding that A.A. was not a presumed father under § 26-17-204(a)(5), because the evidence showed that he received the child into his home and openly held her out as his natural child.
4. The judgment had to be reversed insofar as it determined that A.A. was not the presumed father, and the case had to be remanded for the juvenile court to determine whether the child was dependent as to A.A.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the juvenile court had authority, in deciding the dependency and parentage issues, to examine the validity of A.A.'s purported marriage to the mother without declaring the marriage void.
2. Whether A.A. was the child's presumed father under Ala. Code 1975, § 26-17-204(a)(3), because he and the mother attempted to marry in apparent compliance with law even if the attempted marriage was invalid.
3. Whether A.A. was also a presumed father under Ala. Code 1975, § 26-17-204(a)(5), based on receiving the child into his home, openly holding the child out as his natural child, and establishing a significant parental relationship.
4. Whether the case must be remanded for the juvenile court to determine whether the child was dependent as to A.A. once his presumed-father status was established.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded