Opinion ID: 2525646
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the natural father's failure to comply with new mexico law renders his due process argument moot

Text: ¶ 21 The Natural Father has failed to establish his parental rights under either New Mexico or Utah law. As a consequence, no due process rights accrue to him with regard to the adoption proceeding. As previously explained, the Utah Adoption Act requires an unmarried biological father without knowledge of a Utah adoption to comply with another state's requirements for establishing parental rights before the mother execute[s] a consent to adoption or relinquishment of the child for adoption. Utah Code Ann. § 78B-6-122(1)(c)(i)(B) (2008). ¶ 22 We have previously held this deadline in the Utah adoption statute to be facially valid. See, e.g., In re Adoption of Baby Boy Doe, 717 P.2d 686, 689 (Utah 1986) (stating that prior cases have established the facial validity of Utah Code section 78-30-4(3) (Supp.1983) [4] ); Wells v. Children's Aid Soc'y of Utah, 681 P.2d 199, 207 (Utah 1984) (holding that the provisions of section 78-30-4(3) for terminating an unwed father's parental rights for a newborn infant are facially valid because the state has a compelling interest in speedy and final custody determinations and the statute is narrowly tailored to achieve that goal). However, we have also found the statute unconstitutional as applied when an unwed father `is successful in showing that the termination of his parental rights was contrary to basic notions of due process, and that he came forward within a reasonable time after the baby's birth.' Baby Boy Doe, 717 P.2d at 689 (quoting Ellis v. Soc. Servs. Dep't of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 615 P.2d 1250, 1256 (Utah 1980)). If the father can make such a showing, the court can prevent termination by applying the common law impossibility exception to the statutory deadline, which is available where a father does not know of the need to protect his rights, such that there is no `reasonable opportunity' to assert or protect parental rights. Id. at 691. ¶ 23 Thus, under the impossibility exception articulated in Baby Boy Doe and similar cases, the Natural Father argues that applying this statutory deadline is a violation of his due process rights. If we were to reach this issue, the Adoptive Parties argue that amendments to the statute have eliminated the common law impossibility exception. Indeed, when Ellis and Baby Boy Doe were decided, the statute did not contain a provision allowing an unmarried biological father to establish his parental rights in another state. Baby Boy Doe, 717 P.2d at 688 (citing Utah Code Ann. § 78-30-4(3) (Supp.1983)). However, the Legislature amended the statute first to allow an unmarried biological father to file within ten days of the time it became possible for him to file, Utah Code Ann. § 78-30-4.8 (Supp.1990), and later to allow him to preserve parental rights in another qualifying state. Id. § 78B-6-122(1)(c)(i)(B) (2008). We have not yet dealt with whether, in light of these statutory amendments, the common law impossibility exception still exists. However, we need not reach that question here. ¶ 24 While we note that this case would likely not present a due process violation as applied because the Natural Father had sufficient opportunity to protect his parental rights, the fact remains that he failed to comply with New Mexico law. Without establishing his parental rights in Utah or another state, the Natural Father effectively lost those rights and any due process rights associated with them.