Opinion ID: 3009297
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Family Matter

Text: [¶19] With respect to the judgment entered in the divorce case, from which C.L. properly appealed, see 14 M.R.S. § 1901 (2014), C.L. contends that the court misapplied the standard for determining de facto parenthood by failing to take into 3 Given the interlocutory nature of this appeal, we do not opine on whether a de facto parenthood could be established through a child protection case. 9 account the evidence of his involvement as a parent during the years of A.L.’s life that preceded the child protection proceeding. He further argues that “exceptional circumstances” warrant a determination of de facto parenthood. [¶20] We review the court’s findings of fact for clear error and its conclusions of law de novo. Pitts, 2014 ME 59, ¶ 9, 90 A.3d 1169. To obtain parental rights as a de facto parent, an individual must show that (1) “he or she has undertaken a permanent, unequivocal, committed, and responsible parental role in the child’s life,” and (2) “there are exceptional circumstances sufficient to allow the court to interfere with the legal or adoptive parent’s rights.” Id. ¶ 27 (quotation marks omitted).4 [¶21] Here, the court found that C.L. failed to meet both parts of this test. With respect to the first prong, the court found that C.L. did not occupy a responsible parental role with respect to A.L. Specifically, the court found that he had failed and refused to set necessary limits to assist A.L. at school, had not provided adequate housing or food, had not enabled A.L. to maintain basic hygiene, and had declined to stop smoking in the home where A.L. resided with him. Although most of these findings concern C.L.’s most recent conduct, they 4 This common-law test will soon be superseded because the Legislature adopted the Act to Update Maine’s Family Law. See P.L. 2015, ch. 296, § A-1 (adopting the Maine Parentage Act, which includes a subchapter regarding de facto parentage) (effective July 1, 2016) (to be codified, in relevant part, at 19-A M.R.S. § 1891). 10 support the court’s determination that C.L. had failed, as of the time of hearing, to undertake a “permanent, unequivocal, committed, and responsible parental role in the child’s life.” Id. (emphasis added) (quotation marks omitted). We therefore affirm the court’s determination that he failed to meet the first required element for establishing de facto parenthood. [¶22] The creation by a court of an additional, legally recognized parental relationship with a child permanently alters the relationships among the child and the other parents. Introducing another adult into the group of adults who will care for and make decisions about the child should not occur in instances where that adult is unable to act as a responsible parent. C.L.’s relationship with A.L. does not “entitle” him to de facto parenthood if he cannot, or will not, undertake a permanent responsible parental role in her life. [¶23] Because we affirm the court’s finding that C.L. failed to establish the first element of de facto parenthood, we do not reach or review the court’s finding that C.L. failed to satisfy the second necessary element by establishing “exceptional circumstances” sufficient to allow the court to interfere with the legal parents’ rights. Id. Nor is it necessary for us to reach the biological father’s equitable arguments against a determination that C.L. is a de facto parent. 11 The entry is: Appeal from child protection order dismissed. Judgment in family matter affirmed. On the briefs: Sean Ociepka, Esq., Belfast, for appellant C.L. Janet T. Mills, Attorney General, and Meghan Szylvian, Asst. Atty. Gen., Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, for appellee State of Maine Logan E. Perkins, Esq., Silverstein-Law, P.A., Bangor, for appellee biological father of A.L. At oral argument: Sean Ociepka, Esq., for appellant C.L. Meghan Szylvian, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee State of Maine Logan E. Perkins, Esq., for appellee biological father of A.L. Belfast District Court docket numbers FM-2012-100 and PC-2013-13 FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY