County of Los Angeles v. Lugo

Summary

The California Court of Appeal held that a request to set aside a voluntary declaration of paternity filed before January 1, 2020, may be timely under former Family Code section 7575, subdivision (c)(1), when filed within a reasonable time and no more than six months after an initial court order for custody, visitation, or child support based on the declaration. The court reversed the order denying Henry J. Lugo III’s request as untimely and remanded for the trial court to consider the merits.

Holdings

1. If a voluntary declaration of paternity was filed before January 1, 2020, a request to set it aside may be timely filed within the time permitted by former Family Code section 7575, subdivision (c)(1), rather than under the current two-year deadline in Family Code section 7576.
2. Lugo's request was timely because he filed it within a reasonable time and within six months after the trial court entered the initial child-support order based on the voluntary declaration.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the current two-year deadline in Family Code section 7576 or the former deadline in Family Code section 7575, subdivision (c)(1), governed a request to set aside a voluntary declaration of paternity filed before January 1, 2020.
2. Whether Lugo's request to set aside the voluntary declaration was timely when filed within six months, and within a reasonable time, after the trial court entered an initial child-support order based on the declaration.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded