Opinion ID: 2525646
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: failure to establish parental rights deprived the natural father of standing to intervene in the adoption proceeding

Text: ¶ 25 Finally, the Natural Father argues that the district court erred in holding that he lacked standing to intervene in the adoption proceeding because the New Mexico district court order determining his paternity and right to custody was sufficient to give him an interest in the proceeding, regardless of Utah's determination of his parental rights. The Natural Father's standing claims arise under the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and Utah case law. We will discuss both grounds.
¶ 26 The Natural Father first claims standing under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 24, which grants a timely application for intervention when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest. Utah R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2). According to the rule, the party must have an interest in the proceeding. In the case of an adoption, that interest would amount to parental rights in the child. As previously discussed, the Natural Father failed to timely establish his parental rights under either Utah or New Mexico law. Therefore, without parental rights, he has no interest in the proceeding that would endow him with standing to intervene under rule 24. [5]
¶ 27 The Natural Father next argues that under Utah case law, his New Mexico paternity order was sufficient to vest in him a protectable interest, regardless of whether Utah had determined his parental rights. For this argument, he relies on a Utah Court of Appeals case, In re Adoption of K.C.J., 2008 UT App 152, 184 P.3d 1239. In K.C.J., the court of appeals majority said, [T]he presence or absence of parental rights does not determine whether a person has standing to intervene in an adoption proceeding. Rather, what is required is a person's direct interest in the subject matter of the litigation such that [his or her] rights may be affected, for good or for ill, and this interest may arise from the intervenor's status or circumstances. 2008 UT App 152, ¶ 11, 184 P.3d 1239 (alterations in original) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). In K.C.J., the Utah district court found standing where the putative father had obtained an apparently valid paternity order in Oklahoma during the Utah adoption proceeding, but after the mother's relinquishment of the child for adoption. Id. ¶ 18. The court of appeals affirmed the putative father's standing to intervene, stating, Although . . . [the putative father] may have failed to comply with the Utah law governing unmarried biological fathers, he apparently acted within the laws of the State of Oklahoma. Id. Thus, he had a `protectable interest in the litigation' and was entitled to have his right to further participation adjudicated after presenting relevant evidence and legal arguments in support of his claims. Id. ¶ 11 (quoting Gedo v. Rose, 2007 UT App 154, ¶ 7, 163 P.3d 659). Thus, as the Adoptive Parties suggest, under K.C.J., an unwed father with a valid paternity order from another state is entitled to the opportunity to argue the effect of that order in Utah. Id. ¶¶ 10, 13. ¶ 28 In the instant case, the Utah district court afforded the Natural Father the opportunity to argue the effect of his New Mexico paternity order; he argued the validity of the order under the Full Faith and Credit Clause in his briefing before the district court. Although the court later rejected his arguments, refusing to enforce the paternity order, the Natural Father was afforded the due process required under K.C.J. ¶ 29 In addition, in K.C.J. the court granted standing based on a valid Oklahoma paternity order. Id. ¶ 18. Here, the Natural Father does not have a valid paternity order from another state that vests him with an interest sufficient for standing. As explained above, because the Natural Father failed to file his paternity action within the time required by New Mexico law, he did not establish his status as an acknowledged father, and the later paternity order was of no force or effect. As a result, he gained no legal rights in New Mexico and the district court correctly found that he did not have standing to intervene in the adoption proceeding.