Case Name: In re ADOPTION OF S.A.J. Appeal of: T.L.D. and B.S.D., Appellants
Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 2002-03-19
Citations: 797 A.2d 299
Docket Number: 
Parties: In re ADOPTION OF S.A.J. Appeal of: T.L.D. and B.S.D., Appellants.
Judges: Before CAVANAUGH, STEVENS, and BECK, JJ.
Reporter: West's Atlantic Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 797
Pages: 299–303

Head Matter:
In re ADOPTION OF S.A.J. Appeal of: T.L.D. and B.S.D., Appellants.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued Dec. 11, 2001.
Filed March 19, 2002.
Reargument Denied May 23, 2002.
Bernard Mendelsohn, Reading, for appellants.
Jon P. Landis, Reading, for S.S., appel-lee.
Before CAVANAUGH, STEVENS, and BECK, JJ.

Opinion:
STEVENS, J.
¶ 1 This is an appeal from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County entered on May 2, 2001, which vacated the Final Decree of Adoption entered on January 31, 2001. Appellant raises four issues on appeal: (1) Whether Appellee had standing to challenge the adoption decree; (2) Whether the trial court erred in failing to find that Appellee was estopped from claiming to be the father of the S.A.J.; (3) Whether the trial court erred in failing to find that the termination of Appellee's visitation privileges by court order was Res Judicata to his present claim; and (4) Whether vacating the adoption decree was in the best interests of the S.A.J. Appellee raises one issue on appeal: (1) Whether Appellee should be awarded attorney's fees. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this decision.
¶ 2 S.A.J. was born on February 16, 1989 to Mother, T.L.D., and an unknown father. On November 16, 2000, B.S.D., Mother's husband, filed a petition to adopt S.A.J. The adoption was consented to by Mother and by B.W., who alleged himself to be S.A.J.'s biological father. On January 22, 2001, Appellee, S.S., claiming to be S.A.J.'s natural father, filed a Complaint for Partial Custody. Appellee had previously claimed to be S.A.J.'s father and filed an action seeking custody in 1989, for which partial custody was granted. Mother has admitted to having sexual relations with both B.W. and Appellee during the time of S.A.J.'s conception. Mother sought support payments from Appellee and at the support hearing, Appellee denied being S.A.J.'s father under oath. Thus, Appellee's visitation privileges were suspended, and Appellee had essentially no contact with S.A.J. for the next twelve years.
¶ 3 Mother and Husband, acting under the reasonable belief that Appellee had officially renounced his claim to S.A.J. by denying paternity at the support hearing, had the only other potential father, B.W., consent to the Petition for Adoption. Mother and Husband did not have notice of Appellee's custody complaint until after the adoption proceeding. Mother and Husband filed Preliminary Objections in the custody action brought by Appellee. Appellee filed a Petition to Vacate the Adoption Decree alleging that he was the father of S.A.J. A hearing was held on May 2, 2001, after which the order in question was entered which vacated the adoption decree. A Petition for Reconsideration was denied June 26, 2001. This timely appeal followed. A Pa.R.A.P. 1926(b) statement was not ordered nor was one filed.
¶ 4 Mother and Husband contend that the trial court erred as a matter of law in failing to find that Appellee was judicially estopped from claiming to be the father and entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard in the adoption proceeding, which resulted in the decree being vacated.
¶ 5 We conclude that Appellee is estopped from challenging the adoption of S.A.J. Judicial estoppel is a doctrine that prohibits a party from taking a position in a subsequent judicial proceeding that is inconsistent with the party's position in a prior judicial proceeding. Widener University v. Estate of Boettner, 726 A.2d 1059 (Pa.Super.1999) (citing Ballestrino v. Ballestrino, 400 Pa.Super. 237, 583 A.2d 474 (1990)). Appellee has taken inconsistent positions before the court. For example, Appellee denied paternity in writing for a child support hearing in the Domestic Relations Section of the Court on May 10, 1990, a prior judicial proceeding, and the denial of paternity is included in the record. However, now Appellee is claiming to be S.A.J.'s biological father. Based on the denial of paternity, Appellee has avoided paying child support for S.A.J.'s entire life. Judicial estoppel is particularly warranted where the party's position was successfully maintained. Associated Hospital Service of Philadelphia v. Pustilnik, 497 Pa. 221, 439 A.2d 1149 (1981). Appellee's denial of paternity was successfully maintained by the court, which accepted his denial of paternity and excused him from child support. Thus, this claim should have been barred by the lower court by judicial estoppel. Therefore, we reverse the lower court's order, which vacated the adoption decree.
¶6 Appellee has requested that counsel fees be awarded for costs associated with this appeal. Our Rules of Appellate Procedure allow for the imposition of counsel fees if an appellate court finds the appeal to be frivolous or taken solely for delay. Specifically, Pa.R.A.P. 2744 provides the following:
In addition to other costs allowable by general rule or Act of Assembly, an appellate court may award as further costs damages as may be just, including:
(1) a reasonable counsel fee and
(2) damages for delay at the rate of 6% per annum in addition to the legal interest,
if it determines that an appeal is frivolous or taken solely for delay or that the conduct of the participant against whom costs are to be imposed is dilatory, obdurate or vexatious. The appellate court may remand the case to the trial court to determine the amount of damages authorized by this rule.
Pa.R.A.P. 2744, 42 Pa.C.S.A. In light of our foregoing analysis, we conclude that Appellant did not raise a frivolous issue. Thus, we decline to assess attorney fees.
¶ 7 Reversed; Remanded; Jurisdiction relinquished.
. In light of the foregoing, we decline to address any of Appellant's remaining issues.