Opinion ID: 1060895
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evans v. Steelman

Text: Karen Marie Steelman married Jamie R. Steelman in July 1993. In January 1994, Karen Steelman left her husband. The petitioner, Michael Scott Evans, and Karen Steelman moved into an apartment, after which they regularly had sex. After discovering that she was pregnant in March 1994, Steelman acknowledged to Evans and his family, as well as to medical providers and other acquaintances, that Evans was the child's father. Later, the relationship between Steelman and Evans deteriorated. On November 24, 1994, Steelman gave birth to a son, Jacob Ryan Steelman. She listed her husband, Jamie Steelman, as the child's father. Evans found out about the child's birth and on December 13, 1994, filed a petition to legitimate the child in the Davidson County Juvenile Court. Karen Steelman opposed the legitimation petition, asserting that Evans had no standing under Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-2-202(a) to file such a petition since Jacob Steelman was born in lawful wedlock. On June 15, 1995, Evans filed a formal acknowledgment that he was Jacob's biological father with the Putative Father Registry maintained by the Tennessee Department of Human Services. Thereafter, the juvenile court judge dismissed the legitimation petition on the grounds that Evans had no standing. A majority of the Court of Appeals affirmed, while Judge Koch dissented.