Court Opinion

ID: 9855117
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:19:43.146736+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:41.167376
License: Public Domain

Judge Greene
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s determination that Petersen v. Rogers, 337 N.C. 397, 445 S.E.2d 901 (1994), requires that the trial court be affirmed because there has been no showing of unfitness on the part of the mother. I continue to believe that Petersen requires a showing of unfitness or neglect only when there is a dispute between a parent, who is living with the child in an intact family, and a third party, and in those situations where parents “have lost custody as a result of some 'unlawful action by a third party.” Lambert v. Riddick, 120 N.C. App. 480, 484, 462 S.E.2d 835, 837 (1995) (Greene, J., dissenting). In those situations where the parent does not have custody of the child and seeks custody from a third party nonparent who has custody, an order must be entered awarding custody to such persons as “will best promote the interest and welfare of the child.” N.C.G.S. § 50-13.2(a) (1995); see also Lambert, 120 N.C. App. at 484, 462 S.E.2d at 837 (Greene, J., dissenting).
*678In this case, the defendant, natural parent was not living with her child as an intact family and therefore she was not entitled to the Petersen parental preference. In other words, it was not necessary for the plaintiff to show that the defendant was unfit or had neglected the child. The custody should have been determined on the basis of the best interest of the child.
The custody determination in this case is also not governed by Petersen for another, more fundamental reason, which has not yet been addressed by this Court. In this case, although the plaintiff has no biological relationship with the child, “biological relationships are not [the] exclusive determination of the existence of a family.” Smith v. Organization of Foster Families, 431 U.S. 816, 843, 53 L. Ed. 2d 14, 34 (1977). “No one would seriously dispute that a deeply loving and interdependent relationship between an adult and a child in his or her care may exist even in the absence of blood relationship.” Id. at 844, 53 L. Ed. 2d at 35. Here the plaintiff and the child were part of the same family for six years. He had taken the child into his home, with the consent of the mother, and held the child out to others as his biological child. Had the defendant attempted to release the child for adoption, she could not have done so without the plaintiff’s consent. In North Carolina, the adoption of a child cannot proceed without the consent of “[a]ny man who may or may not be the biological father” of a minor child if that man has “received the minor into his home and openly held out the minor as his biological child.” N.C.G.S. § 48-3-601 (2)(b)(5) (1995); see N.C.G.S. § 48-3-603 (1995) (listing exceptions not applicable here).
Therefore, this plaintiff, although not the biological parent of the child, must not be treated like a third party nonparent within the meaning of Petersen. Within the meaning of Petersen, the plaintiff is more like a parent and thus the best interest test should be applied.1 It is thus not necessary that the plaintiff show that the defendant was unfit or has neglected the child. I would reverse the order of the trial court and remand this matter to be decided using the best interest of the child analysis.

. It is not necessary to address, as the issue is not raised on these facts, what rights the plaintiff would have in a custody dispute with the defendant if another man were to be judicially determined to be the biological father of the child. See N.C.G.S. § 48-3-603(a)(2) (1995).