Brine v. Shipp

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This divorce action involved the termination of the parental rights of the husband, who was the child's legal father for 13 years. The husband was appealing the superior court's order severing his rights as legal father and granting the biological father's petition to legitimate. Gwendolyn and William Brine were married in August 1997, just weeks after a relationship between Gwendolyn and Brian Shipp ended. The child was born in May 1998, and Brine was listed on the birth certificate as the father. Approximately 18 months later, Shipp saw Gwendolyn and asked whether he could be the father. She said that she was married and the child was not his. For the next ten years, Shipp made no more inquiries and took no further action concerning the child's paternity. He saw the child occasionally as a family friend, but did not attempt to develop a father-son relationship or provide any substantial financial or emotional support. In August 2010, a year after William filed for divorce, Gwendolyn informed Shipp that she thought he was the child's biological father; subsequent DNA testing confirmed that fact. In February 2011, Shipp moved to intervene in the divorce action and filed a petition for legitimation. Following a hearing, the superior court found that Shipp had not waived or abandoned his opportunity interest in developing a relationship with the child and that it was in the child's best interest to grant the legitimation petition. As part of the divorce decree, the superior court terminated William Brine's rights as the legal father, granted Shipp's petition to legitimate, and awarded Shipp primary physical custody of the child. William Brine filed an application for discretionary appeal, which the Supreme Court granted as having possible merit. Because the Supreme Court concluded that the superior court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to terminate the legal father's parental rights, the Court reversed that decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Brine v. Shipp" on Justia Law