Court Opinion

ID: 9696804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:59:06.770003+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:18:49.665604
License: Public Domain

OPINION
FLANDERS, Justice.
Two women agreed to become the parents of a child. They arranged for one of them to conceive via artificial insemination by an anonymous donor. Following the child’s birth, they raised him for four years while living together as domestic partners in the same household. Thereafter the women separated but the biological mother agreed to allow the nonbiological parent to have informal visits with the child. Under these circumstances, does the Family Court have jurisdiction over a petition brought to determine the existence of a mother and child relationship between the nonbiological parent and the child? If so, can the Family Court enforce the domestic partners’ written agreement (embodied in a consent order previously entered by the court) to allow the nonbiological parent to have visitation with the child after the parents have separated? These are questions of first impression in Rhode Island. For the reasons related below, we answer both of them in the affirmative.
Facts/Travel
In 1988, plaintiff Maureen V. Rubano (Rubano) and defendant Concetta A. DiCenzo (DiCenzo) entered into what they characterize as a “committed relationship.” Eventually they set up house together as domestic partners in Massachusetts. Three years later, still “more at love than law,”1 they decided to have and raise a child. Accordingly, they arranged for DiCenzo to conceive via artificial insemination by an anonymous donor. In 1992, DiCenzo gave birth to a son. Thereafter, acting together with Rubano, she caused his last name to be listed on the birth and baptismal certificates as Rubano-DiCenzo and sent out printed birth announcements identifying both of them as the child’s parents. Although Rubano never adopted the child, for four years she lived together with DiCenzo and both of them raised the boy as their son. In 1996, however, the couple separated. Taking the boy with her, DiCenzo moved to Rhode Island.
Initially the parties set up an informal visitation schedule for Rubano to see the child. But in 1997 the schedule collapsed in the face of DiCenzo’s resistance. *962Consequently, Rubano filed a miscellaneous petition in Family Court seeking to establish her de facto parental status and to obtain court-ordered visitation with the child. After Rubano filed the lawsuit, the court appointed a guardian ad litem for the boy. In due course, the guardian submitted her recommendations to the court and the parties negotiated a compromise that they embodied in a consent order (order). The order stipulated that Rubano was to have “permanent visitation with [the child]” on a periodic basis, in exchange for which she agreed to waive “any claim or cause of action she has or may have to recognition as a parent of the minor child ***.” After reviewing and approving its terms, including the parties’ recitation that the visitation provisions of the order were “in the best interests of the minor child,” the Chief Judge of the Family Court entered this agreement as an order of that court.2
DiCenzo, however, allegedly reneged yet again on the visitation agreement by *963thwarting Rubano’s attempted visits with the child. DiCenzo, who by now had entered into a new relationship, contended that Rubano’s visits had become psychologically harmful to the child. Charging once more into the breach, Rubano sought contempt relief from the Family Court and asked it to enforce the order. This time, however, DiCenzo was not as agreeable as when the parties had first formulated the order: she now argued that the Family Court lacked jurisdiction to enter the order in the first place, much less to enforce it. Rubano countered that the Legislature had bestowed jurisdiction upon the Family Court to resolve matters like this and that the court therefore should enforce its own order and Rubano’s visitation agreement with DiCenzo. Expressing doubts about how these issues should be resolved, the Family Court certified to this Court the three questions set forth below.3 After reviewing the parties’ legal briefs and that of the amici,4 and after considering their oral arguments, we respond to these questions as follows.
Question I
“Does a child, biological mother, and same sex partner, who have been involved in a committed relationship constitute a ‘family relationship’ within the meaning of G.L. § 8-10-3, such that the Family Court has jurisdiction to entertain a miscellaneous petition for visitation by the former same sex partner when the same sex partner is no longer engaged in the committed relationship?”
The Family Court has asked us to rule on whether it has the power to adjudicate Rubano’s petition to determine her de facto parental status and to enforce the parties’ visitation agreement under the Family Court’s G.L.1956 § 8-10-3(a) jurisdiction to hear “equitable matters arising out of the family relationship.” We begin our analysis by examining the above-referenced statutory language of § 8-10-3 to ascertain whether its provisions are clear and unambiguous, see State v. Alejo, 723 A.2d 762, 764 (R.I.1999) (per curiam); if so, “the statute may not be construed or extended but must be applied literally.” Pizza Hut of America, Inc. v. Pastore, 519 A.2d 592, 593 (R.I.1987) (quoting Citizens for Preservation of Waterman Lake v. Davis, 420 A.2d 53, 57 (R.I.1980)). “[T]he Family Court, as a court of statutory origin, has no more powers than those expressly conferred upon it by the Legislature.” Waldeck v. Piner, 488 A.2d 1218, 1220 (R.I.1985). Thus, it is powerless to act when the subject matter of a dispute is not within its statutory grant of jurisdiction. See Rogers v. Rogers, 98 R.I. 263, 267-68, 201 A.2d 140, 143 (1964).
Section 8-10-3, entitled “Establishment of court — Jurisdiction ***,” provides in pertinent part, as follows: “(a) There is *964hereby established a family court *** to hear and determine *** equitable matters arising out of the family relationship, wherein jurisdiction is acquired by the court by the filing of petitions for divorce, bed and board and separate maintenance ***.” (Emphasis added.)
Asserting that the above-referenced “family relationship” language in § 8-10-3 does not cover the situation presented by the case at bar, DiCenzo urges us to answer question number one in the negative. Rubano, on the other hand, posits a “liberal” interpretation of the “equitable matters arising out of the family relationship” jurisdiction of § 8-10-3, one that would encompass a sufficiently broad authority for the Family Court to take cognizance over disputes like this one. Section 8-10-2,5 she argues, buttresses her position because it mandates a “liberal” construction of the Family Court’s jurisdictional grant of authority in order to realize the purposes of the law establishing the Family Court. Rubano reasons that the language of § 8-10-2 reveals a legislative intent to paint the Family Court’s powers with a broad jurisdictional brush so it can protect the best interests of children who need its oversight. This intent, she suggests, calls for an expansive reading of this portion of the Family Court’s jurisdictional statute to include the “family relationship” before us.
Upon reviewing the statutory language at issue, however, it is immediately apparent to us that this portion of § 8-10-36 *965does not grant jurisdiction to the Family Court in all “equitable matters arising out of the family relationship,” but only in those equitable matters “wherein jurisdiction is acquired by the court by the filing of petitions for divorce, bed and board and separate maintenance.” This final limiting clause narrows the class of “equitable matters arising out of the family relationship” that the Family Court may hear under this portion of § 8-10-3(a) to only cases that originate in petitions for divorce, bed and board, and separate maintenance. Because neither Rubano nor DiCenzo ever has filed any such petition, neither Ruba-no’s original petition to determine her parental status and to enforce the parties’ visitation agreement nor her later efforts to uphold the parties’ consent order fall within the limited “family relationship” jurisdictional provisions of § 8-10-3.
Accordingly, to answer question one, we need not determine whether the parties’ involvement with each other and with the child constituted a “family relationship” within the meaning of this term as it is used in this portion of § 8-10-3(a). The statutory language that the Legislature used to vest the Family Court with equity jurisdiction in this subsection of § 8-10-3 is, by its terms, limited to situations in which the court’s equitable jurisdiction is invoked by a petition for divorce, bed and board, or separate maintenance. Thus, we conclude, the Legislature did not intend for the Family Court to acquire jurisdiction over this type of controversy under the restricted “equitable matters arising out of the family relationship” jurisdictional provisions of § 8-10-3(a). Nevertheless, for the reasons discussed below, this does not mean that the Family Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate this dispute under some other provision of § 8-10-3 or under another statute.
Question II
“If the answer to the above question is in the negative, does such a conclusion violate Article I, section 5 of the Rhode Island Constitution?”
Article 1, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
*966“Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which may be received in one’s person, property, or character.”
Initially, Rubano argued that she had been injured and wronged by DiCenzo’s refusal to acknowledge her parental status vis-a-vis the child and to abide by the parties’ visitation agreement.7 After the parties entered into the Family Court’s consent order, Rubano asserted that DiCenzo violated its terms and that she was entitled to seek enforcement thereof. If Rubano has a remedy for this alleged injury or wrong by having recourse to the laws of this state, then no violation of article 1, section 5 exists. See, e.g., In the Matter of Nichols, 8 R.I. 50, 54 (1864) (“[although, in a free government, every [person] is entitled to an adequate legal remedy for every injury done to him [or her], yet the form and extent of it is necessarily subject to the legislative power ***”). We are of the opinion that Rubano has such a remedy.
General Laws 1956 § 15-8-26 entitled Rubano to bring an action to have the Family Court determine “the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship” between herself and the child because she was, by virtue of her supposed visitation agreement with DiCenzo and her alleged de facto parental relationship with the child, an “interested party” within the meaning of that term as it is used in § 15-8-26 (“[a]ny interested party may bring an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship”). In addition, Rubano was entitled to seek a remedy for DiCenzo’s alleged violation of the parties’ visitation agreement under the portion of § 8 — 10—8(a) that grants jurisdiction to the Family Court to hear “those matters relating to adults who shall be involved with paternity of children born out of wedlock.” Alternatively, the Superior Court would also have concurrent equitable jurisdiction to enforce the visitation agreement. Thus, our response to question No. II is that answering question No. I in the negative does not violate article 1, section 5, of the Rhode Island Constitution because Rubano has certain remedies, having recourse to the laws of this state for all injuries or wrongs which she allegedly has suffered by reason of DiCenzo’s conduct in this matter. We amplify our response by addressing below each one of these available remedies.
A. Jurisdiction under § 15-8-26
The Family Court has jurisdiction to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relátionship between Rubano and the child under § 15-8-26 of Rhode Island’s hybrid version of the Uniform Act on Paternity, 9B U.L.A. 347-68 (1987), that the Legislature adopted in 1979 and named the “Uniform Law on Paternity (ULP).” See P.L.1979, ch. 185, § 2. Indeed, Rubano’s original petition— the one that resulted in the order — asked the Family Court to determine her de facto parental relationship with the child and to “establish a fair and reasonable visitation schedule between [Rubano and the child].”
Section 15-8-26 of the ULP provides as follows:
“Action to declare mother and child relationship. — Any interested party may bring an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship. Insofar as practicable, the provisions of this chapter applicable to the father and child relationship shall apply.”
Under this section, Rubano was an “interested party” because she claimed that she *967had a de facto mother and child relationship -with the child and because she claimed that the child’s biological mother had agreed to allow her reasonable visitation with the child. Whether her claims had any merit was a factual matter for the Family Court to decide, but the plain language of this provision of the ULP vests the Family Court with jurisdiction to declare the existence vel non of a mother and child relationship in these limited circumstances.8 Thus, in contrast to the situation in the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision of Troxel v. Granville, — U.S. -, -, 120 S.Ct. 2054, 2057, 147 L.Ed.2d 49, 53 (2000), in which the Court invalidated a state statute allowing “any person” to petition for visitation rights “at any time,” here we construe § 15-8-26’s “[a]ny interested party” language much more narrowly, requiring an alleged parent-like relationship with the child before a party who is neither the child’s biological parent nor a legal representative of the child can seek relief under § 15-8-26. Rubano’s alleged close involvement with the child’s conception and upbringing for as long as she and DiCenzo cohabited (approximately four years) and her alleged visitation agreement with DiCenzo when the couple separated endowed her with the requisite parent-like relationship and standing to obtain a judicial determination under this section. Indeed, if the parties had chosen to litigate this issue rather than to settle their dispute and if the facts were contrary to what Rubano had alleged, the ULP expressly allowed for a finding that no mother and child relationship existed between Rubano and the child; but, in any event, there is no question but that § 15-8-26 gives the Family Court jurisdiction to determine whether such a relationship exists in cases like this one.
Nevertheless, the dissent suggests that both the order and the parties’ settlement agreement (they became one and the same) “specifically negate any such right on Rubano’s party to a claim of parentage adjudicated in court.” However, both the order and the parties’ settlement agreement were conditioned on the provision allowing Rubano to have visitation with the child. Thus, it hardly negates any such right on Rubano’s part to have her parental-rights claim adjudicated; rather, it was simply a part of the court’s order and the parties’ settlement agreement that she was giving up her right to claim parentage visa-vis the child in exchange for court-ordered visitation with him. Without court-ordered visitation, the waiver of Rubano’s claims to parental rights would have no effect whatsoever.
Most significantly, § 15-8-26 does not require that the interested party who is seeking such a Family Court determination allege that he or she is the biological parent of the child. Rather, the Family Court, as in Pettinato v. Pettinato, 582 A.2d 909 (R.I.1990), has the power to determine the existence of a de facto parent-child relationship despite the absence of any biological relationship between the putative parent and the child. In Pettinato, the Family Court had awarded a nonbiological parent custodial rights vis-á-vis a minor child based upon his status as a de facto parent to that child, despite the biological mother’s objections to the granting of such rights and notwithstanding her assertion that this putative parent was not *968even biologically related to the child. Id. at 910-11. We affirmed and held that the biological mother was equitably estopped from preventing a de facto father from seeking or obtaining custody of a child born out of wedlock to the mother when both parents had lived with, raised, and held out the child to the' community as their child. Id. at 913.
The dissent argues that “[t]he Pettinato Court’s use of equitable estoppel as a shield to prevent [the biological mother] from attacking the presumption of paternity created by § 15-8-3, was for a totally different purpose than that for which the majority now attempts to employ equitable estoppel against DiCenzo; namely, to create jurisdiction in the Family Court over Rubano’s complaint seeking visitation rights to a minor child against the wishes of DiCenzo, the child’s biological mother.” We agree with the dissent that, generally speaking, the estoppel doctrine acts as a legal shield rather than a sword, and, therefore, it does not “of itself create new rights.” Our holding here, however, does not run afoul of this principle. Like the nonbiological parent’s right to custody in Pettinato, Rubano’s right to seek court-ordered visitation with the child stemmed from her alleged de facto parental relationship with him and from her visitation agreement with DiCenzo, but not from the use of estoppel. The estoppel doctrine merely bars DiCenzo from asserting that Rubano’s lack of a biological tie to the child is fatal to Rubano’s claim for legal recognition of her rights as a de facto parent; but it does not serve to create a right that does not otherwise exist by reason of Rubano’s alleged parental relationship with the child and her asserted visitation agreement with DiCenzo as embodied in the order. On the contrary, it merely serves to allow the court to recognize a nonbiological parent’s right to court-ordered visitation with a child based upon, in part, the existence of these circumstances.
Thus, if the Family Court were able to find that Rubano’s alleged de facto parental relationship with the child, her asserted visitation agreement with DiCenzo, and the claimed need to prevent any harm to the child’s best interests not only existed in this case but constituted clear and convincing evidence sufficient to overcome the otherwise applicable presumption in favor of honoring a fit custodial parent’s determination not to allow such visitation, see Troxel, — U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2062, 147 L.Ed.2d at 60 (“the [state] court must accord at least some special weight to the [biological] parent’s own determination”), then it could award visitation to Rubano under the ULP.
The dissent also refers to the Wisconsin case of In re Z.J.H., 162 Wis.2d 1002, 471 N.W.2d 202, 212 (1991), in support of its position that “[t]he legal effects and consequences of statutory limitations cannot be avoided by estoppel.” But, apart from the fact that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overruled this case,9 we do not use estop-pel to avoid any statutory limitations. In Z.J.H., the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that because a former same-sex parent was barred by statute from claiming visitation or custody rights, she could not use estoppel to circumvent the law and pursue her claim in the face of a statute that precluded her standing. See id. at 211-12. Here, on the contrary, we have determined that a statutory basis does exist for Rubano’s visitation claim under the ULP and that no other statute bars her from seeking such rights. Thus, we merely employ estoppel to prevent DiCenzo from challenging the alleged mother-child relationship between Rubano and the child based upon Rubano’s lack of a biological tie to the child.
*969Nor do we invoke equitable estoppel “to create jurisdiction in the Family Court” over Rubano’s claims, as the dissent alleges. On the contrary, we apply the doctrine of equitable estoppel to the liability and remedial aspects of Rubano’s claims vis-á-vis DiCenzo, but not to her claimed entitlement to be heard in Family Court. For jurisdiction, we rely upon the plain language of § 15-8-26 and upon Rubano’s alleged status as a de facto parent to the child and as a party to an asserted visitation agreement with DiCenzo. Nor are we using estoppel to avoid the statutory restrictions placed upon the Family Court’s special and limited jurisdiction. The only jurisdictional restriction § 15-8-26 imposes is that an “interested party” must bring the claim. Rubano qualified as an interested party because of her alleged parental bond with the child, one that she asserted was formed over a multiyear period during which a parent-child relationship developed between the child and herself, and because of her domestic partnership, co-parenting, and visitation agreement with DiCenzo, but not because of any estoppel barring DiCenzo from contesting her alleged parental rights.
Moreover, the holding in Pettinato bears directly on the facts at issue here. In Pettinato, the child’s biological mother attempted to use a de facto parent’s lack of biological connection with the child to defeat a custody award to that parent. Even though, as the dissent notes, the Family Court in Pettinato acquired jurisdiction through the filing of a petition for divorce, its holding — that a nonbiologieal parent may be awarded custody over the objection of a biological parent — supports our conclusion here that such a nonbiologieal parent is eligible under § 15-8-26 to bring an action to declare the existence vel non of a mother-child relationship. Thus, the fact that the Family Court in Pettinato acquired jurisdiction through the filing of a divorce petition, rather than under § 15-8-26, is irrelevant to whether Rubano qualifies as an “interested party” under § 15-8-26. Pettinato simply supports the proposition that an “interested party” under § 15-8-26 may include a person who, though he or she has no biological connection with a child, nonetheless has functioned as a parent in relation to that child and has been held out to the community as the child’s parent by the biological parent. Notably, in other sections of the ULP, the Legislature demonstrated that it knew how to adopt appropriate limiting language when it wished to exclude nonbiologieal parents from its provisions. See, e.g., § 15-8-3(a) (“[a] man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if ***”). (Emphasis added.). But in § 15-8-26, it chose not to include such limiting language, thereby allowing a nonbiologieal parent to establish the existence of a de facto mother-child relationship with the child in question.
Though the dissent contends that § 15-8-26 “was obviously enacted to provide for those infrequent occasions when *** a young child who may be living with a single father, or in a foster home, may have need, or want, to have his or her maternal relationship determined,” and that it does not permit someone who already knows who a child’s biological mother is to “intrude upon an already established biological mother and child relationship,” we do not discern any such limiting language in the “[a]ny interested party” language of § 15-8-26. Moreover, if the General Assembly had intended to permit only a biological mother or a child living with a single father or in a foster home to bring an action to determine the existence of a mother and child relationship, we are of the opinion that it would have said so instead of using the broader term “[a]ny interested party.” A biological connection with either the mother or the child is but one potential source of an interest sufficient to confer standing on a person seeking to obtain a judicial determination concerning the existence of a mother-child relationship. Thus, contrary to the dissent’s position, the language of § 15-8-26 does not specifically limit its *970scope to those interested in determining a biological mother-and-child relationship. As we noted above, the Legislature knew how to restrict specific ULP provisions to a biological relationship when it wished to do so. Thus, the assumption underlying the dissent’s reading of § 15-8-26 — that it refers only to actions seeking to determine a biological mother and child relationship — is unsupported by the language of the statute.
The dissent also suggests that our conclusion “that jurisdiction exists in the Family Court over Rubano’s novel complaint filed pursuant to § 15-8-26 of the U.L.P. [Uniform Paternity Act], misinterprets *** the nature of the U.L.P. [Uniform Paternity Act].”10 However, Rhode Island’s “Uniform Law on Paternity” (that is, chapter 8 of title 15), is a combination of selected provisions from both the Uniform Act on Paternity, 9B U.L.A. 347-68 (1987), and from the Uniform Parentage Act, 9B U.L.A. 334-45 (1987). It also included sections that are unique to Rhode Island. Indeed, of the twenty-eight sections found in chapter 8 of title 15, the General Assembly adopted six, in whole or in part, from the Uniform Act on Paternity.11 It included ten others, in whole or in part, from the Uniform Parentage Act.12 The remaining sections adopted by the General Assembly are unique to our state.
Second, the dissent’s reliance on Waldeck v. Finer, 488 A.2d 1218 (R.I.1985), for the proposition that the “unequivocal aim” of our state’s ULP was to provide a mechanism for enforcement of child-support responsibilities is not persuasive. The Court’s discussion in Waldeck about the purpose of the ULP was in specific reference to § 15-8-2, the ULP’s enforcement provision. The General Assembly adopted this provision from the Uniform Act on Paternity § 2, and later amended that provision to include the “father” as one of the interested parties who could seek enforcement of paternity. See P.L.1995, ch. 320, § 1. (The Uniform Act on Paternity does not include the father as an eligible complainant.) But that provision is not in issue here; rather, the General Assembly adopted § 15-8-26 directly from the Uniform Parentage Act § 21. Thus, the dissent’s misplaced reliance on Waldeck actually supports our position because, as that case noted, “the Uniform Parentage Act *** establishes parental rights ***.” Waldeck, 488 A.2d at 1221. (Emphasis added.)
B. Jurisdiction under § 8-10-8
We also hold that Rubano was entitled to seek a remedy for DiCenzo’s alleged refusal to provide her visitation with the child under the portion of § 8-10-3 that grants jurisdiction to the Family Court over “those matters relating to adults who shall be involved with paternity of children born out of wedlock.”13 See *971§ 8-10-3(a). Cf. Pettinato, 582 A.2d at 912-13 (awarding custody of a minor child born out of wedlock to the biological mother’s estranged husband on the basis of the child’s best interests despite the fact that the husband was not the child’s biological father). Because Rubano and DiCenzo were never married, the child was born out of wedlock. Allegedly, Rubano was “involved with” the child’s paternity in that DiCenzo’s artificial insemination occurred only pursuant to her “joint decision [with Rubano] to bear a child and to raise said child together.” Moreover, Rubano not only allegedly helped to plan and arrange for DiCenzo’s conception of the child via artificial insemination from an anonymous donor, she also averred that she was primarily responsible for the financial costs associated with this procedure. On his birth certificate, DiCenzo and Rubano caused the child’s last name to be listed as “Rubano-DiCenzo” by compounding their surnames. Further, according to her petition, Rubano’s name appeared on the child’s baptismal certificate; DiCenzo and Rubano sent out printed birth announcements identifying both of them as the child’s parents; and Rubano helped to raise and nurture the child for four years while living with DiCenzo and the child, thereby serving as one of the child’s de facto parents (the child refers to Rubano as his “heart mom”).
If the parties had chosen to litigate this matter to an adversarial conclusion instead of settling via the order, and if the factual allegations in Rubano’s petition had been established, then Rubano would have been able to prove that she had been “involved with [the] paternity” of this child born out of wedlock within the meaning of this discrete jurisdictional provision of § 8-10-3. Thereafter, following Pettinato’ & rationale, the Family Court could have determined that DiCenzo was equitably estopped from denying Rubano’s status as a de facto parent, and that the child’s best interests called for Rubano to have visitation with the child. See Pettinato, 582 A.2d at 913 (because the putative father’s name was on the child’s birth certificate and because the biological mother’s conduct evinced an acceptance of the nonbiological parent as the father of the child, the biological mother was equitably estopped from objecting to the Family Court treating this individual as the child’s father and awarding him custody of the child).
In sum, we hold that Rubano was entitled to pursue her Family Court action against DiCenzo to determine her de facto maternal status vis-a-vis the child, to settle that action via the order, and to obtain relief for an alleged contempt thereof by DiCenzo that would bar her from violating the visitation terms of this order. The basis for our ruling is that, in the words of § 8-10-3, both these parties are adults who were “involved with [the] paternity” of a child born out of wedlock. In such cases, the Family Court has jurisdiction under § 8-10-3 to resolve visitation disputes because they concern “matters relating to adults who shall be involved with the paternity of children born out of wedlock.”14
*972In holding that § 15-8-26 and § 8-10-3’s “adults who shall be involved with paternity” clause provide two separate bases of jurisdiction for Rubano’s claims, we note that we have not, as the dissent would have it, “mix[ed] together portions from the broad statutory language found in § 8-10-3 *** with the general statutory wording found in § 15-8-26.” On the contrary, as is clear from the above analysis, we conclude that these distinct jurisdictional grants provide two separate and independent jurisdictional bases for Rubano’s claim. Thus, whatever “strange mix” the dissent envisions concerning these two provisions is a cocktail that it alone has shaken and stirred.
C. Superior Court Jurisdiction
Alternatively, Rubano was entitled to seek a remedy in Superior Court for DiCenzo’s alleged violation of the visitation agreement. See G.L.1956 § 8-2-13 (“[t]he superior court shall, except as otherwise prohibited by law, have exclusive original jurisdiction of suits and proceedings of an equitable character *** ”). Before the Legislature established the Family Court, the Superior Court had exercised equitable jurisdiction over suits involving child visitation and custody. See, e.g., Hoxsie v. Potter, 16 R.I. 374, 377, 17 A. 129, 130 (1888) (concerning an award of custody by the Superior Court to a child’s paternal aunt contrary to the biological mother’s wishes). The Superior Court did not lose this jurisdiction after the General Assembly created the Family Court. Rather, the Family Court and the Superior Court maintain concurrent jurisdiction over such matters. See Lubecki v. Ashcroft, 557 A.2d 1208, 1211 (R.I.1989) (holding that a contract dispute between a former husband and wife could properly reside in the Superior Court). Thus, under its general equitable powers, the Superior Court also had the jurisdictional authority to hear plaintiffs case and to decide whether to enforce the parties’ visitation agreement (as it was embodied in the Family Court’s order) just as it would any other such agreement. However, because in this case proceedings were initiated in the Family Court and the parties’ settlement in the form of an order has already entered in that court, the Superi- or Court, as a matter of comity, should abstain from asserting its jurisdiction if either party should attempt to invoke it.
D. Federal Constitutional Considerations
According to the United States Supreme Court, “it cannot now be doubted that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions con*973cerning the care, custody, and control of their children.” Troxel, — U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2060, 147 L.Ed.2d at 56 (striking down the State of Washington’s nonpa-rental visitation statute as applied to a child’s paternal grandparents because of its unconstitutional overbreadth in allowing “any person” to petition for visitation rights “at any time” subject only to a best-interests-of-the-child standard). And we acknowledge, as did the Troxel Court, that “the State’s recognition of an independent third party interest in a child can place a substantial burden on the traditional parent-child relationship.” Id. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2059, 147 L.Ed.2d at 56. But in holding, as we do, that the Family Court had jurisdiction to determine the existence of a de facto parental relationship between Rubano and the child — a child with whom she has no biological relationship — and to enforce the biological mother’s settlement agreement allowing Rubano to visit with the child, we also join with the high Court in recognizing that “persons outside the nuclear family are called upon with increasing frequency to assist in the everyday tasks of child rearing,” id., and that “the importance of the familial relationship, to the individuals involved and to the society, stems from the emotional attachments that derive from the intimacy of daily association, and from the role it plays in ‘promoting] a way of life’ through the instruction of children *** as well as from the fact of blood relationship.” Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 844, 97 S.Ct. 2094, 2109, 53 L.Ed.2d 14, 35 (1977) (quoting Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 231-33, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 1541-42, 32 L.Ed.2d 15, 34-35 (1972)). And although “[t]he family unit accorded traditional respect in our society, which we have referred to as the ‘unitary family,’ is typified, of course, by the marital family, [it] also includes the household of unmarried parents and their children.” Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110, 123 n. 3, 109 S.Ct. 2333, 2342 n. 3, 105 L.Ed.2d 91, 106 n. 3 (1989) (Scalia, J.,) (plurality opinion). We also acknowledge that “freedom of personal choice in matters of *** family life is one of the liberties protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 639-10, 94 S.Ct. 791, 796, 39 L.Ed.2d 52, 60 (1974).
Although DiCenzo’s constitutional liberty interest in exercising freedom of personal choice to prevent unwanted third parties from exercising parental rights with respect to her natural child would be entitled to special weight in any contested visitation case because “there is a presumption that fit parents act in the best interests of their children,” Troxel, - U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2061, 147 L.Ed.2d at 58, her interest is not an unqualified one because the rights of a child’s biological parent do not always outweigh those of other parties asserting parental rights, let alone do they trump the child’s best interests. See, e.g., Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248, 261, 103 S.Ct. 2985, 2993, 77 L.Ed.2d 614, 626 (1983). In Lehr, the Court held that a biological father who had not cultivated a relationship with his child or contributed significantly to the child’s support had no standing to object to an adoption proceeding that the child’s mother and her new husband had initiated. See id. at 250, 103 S.Ct. at 2987, 77 L.Ed.2d at 619. The Court said that the biological father’s mere genetic relationship to the child did not allow him to block a nonbiological parent’s adoption of the child because of the “clear distinction between a mere biological relationship and an actual relationship of parental responsibility.” Id. at 259-60, 103 S.Ct. at 2992, 77 L.Ed.2d at 625. Thus, a biological parent who has never shouldered any responsibility for the rearing of that parent’s biological child does not have a constitutional right to veto the child’s adoption by a nonbiological parent when that adoption is deemed to be in the child’s best interest. Id. at 262, 103 S.Ct. at 2993-94, 77 L.Ed.2d at 627; see also Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 256, 98 S.Ct. 549, 555, 54 *974L.Ed.2d 511, 520 (1978) (explaining that the biological parent “never shouldered any significant responsibility with respect to the daily supervision, education, protection, or care of the child” and thus his constitutional rights were of less weight than those of a married but nonbiological father who had “borne full responsibility for the rearing of his children during the period of the marriage”).
Moreover, under certain circumstances, even the existence of a developed biological, parent-child relationship such as that between DiCenzo and this child will not prevent others from acquiring parental rights vis-á-vis the child. See, e.g., Troxel, — U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2061, 147 L.Ed.2d at 58 (“special factors *** might justify the State’s interference with [the biological mother’s] fundamental right to make decisions concerning the rearing of her [children]”); Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110, 109 S.Ct. 2333, 105 L.Ed.2d 91 (1989). In Michael H., the Court held that a developed relationship within a family unit between a nonbiological parent and a child can, under certain circumstances, warrant more legal protection by a state than the equally developed relationship between the child and the biological parent outside the family unit because of “the historic respect — -indeed, sanctity would not be too strong a term — -traditionally accorded to the relationships that develop within the unitary family.” Id. at 123, 109 S.Ct. at 2342, 105 L.Ed.2d at 106. Significantly, the Michael H. plurality opinion stated that “[t]he family unit accorded traditional respect *** is typified, of course, by the marital family, but also includes the household of unmarried parents and their children.” Id. at 123 n. 3, 109 S.Ct. at 2342 n. 3, 105 L.Ed.2d at 106 n. 3. (Emphasis added.) Indeed “[t]he demographic changes of the past century make it difficult to speak of an average American family.” Troxel, — U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2059, 147 L.Ed.2d at 55.
Legal recognition of a de facto or “psychological parent” and child relationship— notwithstanding the absence of any biological ties — also finds support in a recent decision of New Jersey’s highest court. In V.C. v. M.J.B., 163 N.J. 200, 748 A.2d 539 (2000), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the same sex partner of a biological mother who had assumed a parental role in helping to raise the biological mother’s child had established a “psychological parenthood” with respect to the child and thus had a legal right to petition for custody and visitation. See id. at 555.
The New Jersey Supreme Court applied a four-part test to determine whether a “psychological parenthood” existed between a “third party” adult and a child:
“the legal parent must consent to and foster the relationship between the third party ■ and the child; the third party must have lived with the child; the third party must perform parental functions for the child to a significant degree; and most important, a parent-child bond must be forged.” Id. at 551.
While the first part of this test encompasses the estoppel element that we recognized in Pettinato, 582 A.2d at 913, the other three elements also provide useful criteria for evaluating whether a de facto parent-child relationship exists between an alleged psychological parent and a child. These criteria indicate that a given person’s eligibility for “psychological parenthood” with respect to an unrelated child will be strictly limited to those adults who have served literally as one of the child’s de facto parents. Thus, the New Jersey court’s criteria preclude such potential third-party parents as mere neighbors, caretakers, baby sitters, nannies, au pairs, nonparental relatives, and family friends from satisfying these standards. Further, the court in M.J.B. explicitly stated that “a relationship based on payment by the legal parent to the third party will not qualify.” M.J.B., 748 A.2d at 552.
We also note that our position here is in harmony with the principles recently adopted by the American Law Institute (ALI) in its Principles of the Law of F'am-*975ily Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations, ch. 2, §§ 2.03-2.21 (Tentative Draft No. 4 of April 10, 2000 and adopted May 16, 2000). There, the ALI has recognized that individuals who have been significantly involved in caring for and supporting children and for whom they have acted as parents may obtain legal recognition of their parental rights to visitation and custody. See id. § 2.08. This category of child caregivers includes those who have held a reasonable good-faith belief that they were biological parents to the child, see id. § 2.03, Comment (b ){ii), as well as those who, with the agreement of the legal parent, have regularly performed a substantial share of the child’s caregiving. See id. § 2.03, Comment (b )(iii). In sum, the effect of ALI’s position is to recognize, as do we and the other authorities cited here, that, under certain limited circumstances, an unrelated caregiver can develop a parent-like relationship with the child that could be substantial enough to warrant legal recognition of certain parental rights and responsibilities vis-á-vis that child, especially when the court finds that, under the circumstances of a given case, “a parent has denied (or unreasonably denied) visitation to the concerned third party.” Troxel, — U.S. at -, 120 S.Ct. at 2063, 147 L.Ed.2d at 60 (citing Rhode Island’s G.L.1956 § 16-6-24.3(a)(2)(iii)-(iv) in the context of grandparent-grandchild visitation, as an example of a state law barring grandparents from visiting their grandchild unless a parent prevented them from doing so and “there is no other way the petitioner is able to visit his or her grandchild without court intervention”).
Thus, we are not alone in acknowledging that “children have a strong interest in maintaining the ties that connect them to adults who love and provide for them,” an interest that “lies in the emotional bonds that develop between family members as a result of shared daily life.” M.J.B., 748 A.2d at 550. Because of the importance of these bonds, we recognize that, consistent with the statutory law of domestic relations in this jurisdiction, a person who has no biological connection to a child but who has served as a psychological or de facto parent to that child may, under the limited circumstances outlined above, establish his or her entitlement to parental rights vis-a-vis the child. See also In re Custody of H.S.H-K, 193 Wis.2d 649, 533 N.W.2d 419 (1995) (allowing former female partner of biological mother to invoke equitable power of the court to obtain visitation if the biological parent has interfered substantially with the other person’s established parent-like relationship with the child); A.C. v. C.B., 113 N.M. 581, 829 P.2d 660 (App.1992) (holding that an agreement by a biological parent with an unrelated person for custody and visitation of a child is enforceable if it is in the child’s best interest).
The dissent cites to the decision of an intermediate California appellate court in West v. Superior Court (Lockrem), 59 Cal. App.4th 302, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 160, 162 (1997), as evidence that our reading of § 15-8-26 is in error. The West court held that “a person unrelated to [the child] is not an ‘interested person’ [under this portion of the Uniform Parentage Act]” and, therefore, could not bring an action under that act for visitation with a child she had cared for in a same-sex relationship with the child’s mother. 69 Cal.Rptr.2d at 162. Although we disagree with the West court’s ruling because it discounts the breadth of the “any interested person” language of § 15-8-26, we also note that that court was constrained by its own precedent in an earlier case to rule that a nonbiological parent in a same-sex bilateral relationship had no standing to obtain custody or visitation with respect to the child of his or her former domestic partner. See 69 Cal.Rptr.2d at 161 (citing Curiale v. Reagan, 222 Cal.App.3d 1597, 272 Cal.Rptr. 520 (1990)). In the years between that earlier case and the West decision, the court noted, “the Legislature *** has not seen fit to bestow jurisdiction *** under the circumstances presented here.” Id. at 162. The West court also *976observed that the nonbiological parent’s estoppel argument, similar to Rubano’s here, found no support in cases from that jurisdiction. See id. at 162-63. But unlike the West court, we have no earlier precedent in this jurisdiction declining to accord nonbiological parents any standing to seek legal recognition of their parental rights as de facto parents. Moreover, unlike the West court, we cannot infer any legislative intent to preclude standing to a de facto parent in Rubano’s position because here the Legislature has not refused to amend § 15-8-26 in response to a court decision excluding nonbiological parents from its reach. Finally, the West court apparently did not have a decision similar to Pettinato to buttress the nonbiological parent’s es-toppel argument. Thus, we conclude, the West holding is not on point to the situation we face in this jurisdiction, and is contrary to the weight of authority elsewhere that has considered this issue.
In sum, the mere fact of biological parenthood, even when coupled with the biological parent’s ongoing care and nurture of the child and that parent’s fundamental right “to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of [his or her] children,” Troxel, — U.S. at --, 120 S.Ct. at 2060, 147 L.Ed.2d at 56, does not always endow the biological parent with the absolute right to prevent all third parties from ever acquiring any parental rights vis-á-vis the child. Thus, the fact that DiCenzo not only gave birth to this child but also nurtured him from infancy does not mean that she can arbitrarily terminate Rubano’s de facto parental relationship with the boy, a relationship that DiCenzo agreed to and fostered for many years. Indeed, when DiCenzo agreed to give Rubano permanent visitation rights in the order, she admitted that she did so because, among other reasons, such visitation “is in the best interests of the minor child.” Conversely, the fact that Rubano is not a biological parent does not necessarily reheve her of a potential legal obligation to support the child. See Pietros v. Pietros, 638 A.2d 545, 548 (R.I.1994) (holding that a court may impose child-support obligations on a husband who is not a child’s biological father). Hence, even if the order had not existed, Rubano would have been entitled to prove that she qualified as a de facto or “psychological” parent to the child and that she was, therefore, eligible for visitation rights and subject to child-support obligations.
For these reasons, DiCenzo’s constitutional rights as the child’s natural mother to superintend his future upbringing and his associations with adults other than DiCenzo are not absolute. By her conduct in allowing Rubano to assume an equal role as one of the child’s two parents, and by her conduct in agreeing to and signing an order that granted Rubano “permanent visitation” rights with the child because it “is in the best interests of the minor child” to do so, DiCenzo rendered her own parental rights with respect to this boy less exclusive and less exelusory then they otherwise would have been had she not by word and deed allowed Rubano to establish a parental bond with the child and then agreed to allow reasonable visitation. Cf. Pettinato, 582 A.2d at 913 (holding that a mother who, by her conduct, had acknowledged a person to be the child’s parent, was equitably estopped from challenging “the status which he or she has previously accepted [or created]”) (quoting John M. v. Paula T., 524 Pa. 306, 571 A.2d 1380, 1386 (1990)). Under these circumstances, we do no violence to DiCenzo’s constitutional rights when we hold that Pettinato’s estoppel doctrine precludes her from denying the existence of a “presumption [of parental rights] that she helped to bring about.” 582 A.2d at 912.
Question III
“If the answer to question 1 is in the affirmative, then does a non-biological partner, who has been a same sex partner with a biological mother have standing to petition the Rhode *977Island Family Court for visitation pursuant to G.L. 15-5-1 et al. [sic ]?”
Because we have answered question no. I in the negative, we are not called upon to answer question no. Ill and we therefore decline to do so. In our response to question no. II, we held that concurrent jurisdiction in this type of case lies both in the Family Court and in the Superior Court. Based upon the allegations in Rubano’s petition, we have concluded that she possessed the requisite interest and standing to file her petition asking the Family Court to determine her parental status and to enforce her visitation agreement. Accordingly, the Family Court has jurisdiction to enforce the order.
Conclusion
For the reasons stated above, we answer question no. I in the negative. And because Rubano may obtain the relief she seeks, including enforcement of the order, both in the Family Court (under its jurisdictional provisions pertaining to matters involving maternity, paternity, and children born out of wedlock), and in the Superior Court (under its general equitable jurisdiction), we also answer question no. II in the negative. As a result, because we are not called upon to answer question no. Ill, we decline to do so. Finally, we note that DiCenzo’s constitutional rights as a biological parent to prevent third parties from exercising parental rights vis-a-vis her child are not absolute when, as here, the best interests of the child are at stake and DiCenzo’s conduct equitably estops her from objecting to Ru-bano’s court-ordered visitation — especially after DiCenzo has agreed to Rubano’s having “permanent” visitation with the child in an order that settled Rubano’s petition to obtain legal recognition of her de facto parental relationship with the child.
The papers in this case shall be remanded to the Family Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

. Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto I. st. 58.

. The concurring and dissenting opinion (hereinafter, the dissent) asserts that we erroneously refer to the order as having been entered by a Family Court justice following "a 'determination made by the justice that Ruba-no’s visitation rights’ with DiCenzo’s biological child were 'in the best interests of the minor child.’ ” The dissent suggests that ”[n]o such determination ever was made by the trial justice,” only by the parties themselves in their "private agreement.” But that conclusion ignores the fact that the court consciously and deliberately entered that order and thereby, ipso facto, caused the terms of that agreement to become an order of the court and not just a "private agreement.” The cases that the dissent cites to contradict this assertion are all wide of the mark. Certainly Attilli v. Attilli, 722 A.2d 268 (R.I.1999); Riffenburg v. Riffenburg, 585 A.2d 627 (R.I.1991); O’Connell v. O’Connell, 100 R.I. 444, 216 A.2d 884 (1966), all support the proposition that a mere private agreement between two consenting adults cannot of itself confer jurisdiction upon the Family Court to modify or enforce the alleged agreement. See, e.g., Riffenburg, 585 A.2d at 630 (holding that Family Court lacks authority to modify a separation agreement that was incorporated by reference but not merged into a final divorce judgment). But here the written agreement was not itself the basis for Family Court jurisdiction. And the parties’ written agreement became an order of the Family Court. Thus, it was no longer a mere private agreement. Moreover, the fact that the Family Court never "participated in the discussion between the parties regarding their scheduling of visitation rights” is immaterial. Once the court entered the order, it became an order of the court and a finding of that court. See State v. Lush, 170 Neb. 376, 103 N.W.2d 136, 138 (1960) (noting that ‘‘[a] consent decree is as much a final decree and as conclusive upon the parties as is a decree which has been rendered after a hearing on the merits”) (citing treatises); see also Dean v. Dean, 136 Or. 694, 300 P. 1027, 1028 (1931) (noting that "[a] consent decree is as much a final decree and as conclusive upon the parties as a final decree rendered after a trial on the merits”). Nonetheless, the dissent argues that the court entered the order "after only an exiguous reading of [the consent order’s] contents.” We do not believe that the record supports this conclusion, because we do not interpret the remarks of the Family Court's Chief Judge to suggest that he did not read the order carefully before entering it. On the contrary, we presume that he did and nothing in the record suggests otherwise. But whether the court read the order carefully or "exiguously” is of no consequence; what matters is that the court intended to and did in fact enter that order. Thus, its efficacy as a legal mandate cannot be undermined by how “exiguously” or not the trial justice read the order. Certainly, the Chief Judge of the Family Court did not enter this order by mistake; and the mere fact that its language originated from the parties is hardly a novel phenomenon. Many, if not most orders that are entered by courts in this jurisdiction and throughout the country are drafted by one or more of the parties and then presented to the court for entry. Fleretofore, we have not determined the efficacy of court orders based upon how "exiguously” a trial justice has reviewed the language therein before entering the order. Such a rule, were it to be adopted, would create an instant "get-out-of-jail-free card”’ for anyone who had second thoughts about complying with the terms of the court’s order. Put another way, the legal effect of a court order does not turn on how "carefully read” the proposed order was by the particular justice who entered the order. Absent a mistake or some other reason that would justify vacating the order, a court order is still a valid and enforceable mandate of the court, regardless of who drafted the language of the order and how carefully the court read the order before entering it.

. We interpret G.L.1956 § 8-10-43 (vesting Family Court justices with the same prerogatives and authority as Superior Court justices) in conjunction with the certification provisions of G.L.1956 § 9-24-27, thereby allowing Family Court justices to certify questions to this Court. Thus, even though § 9-24-27 authorizes only Superior Court justices and District Court judges to certify questions, this Court previously has ruled that § 8-10-43 allows Family Court justices to certify questions "at least when exercising juvenile court jurisdiction.” In re Correia, 104 R.I. 251, 254 n. 2, 243 A.2d 759, 760 n. 2 (1968). We now construe § 8-10-43 to authorize Family Court justices, like their Superior and District Court counterparts, to certify questions to this Court "of such doubt and importance and [that] so affect[ ] the merits of the controversy that [they] ought to be determined by the supreme court before further proceedings ***.’’ Section 9-24 — 27.

. The amici include the following organizations that joined in a single brief in support of Rubano’s position: Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, The National Association of Social Workers, Rhode Island Chapter, Jewish Family Service, Children’s Friend and Service, Rhode Island State Council of Churches, Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, Ocean State Action, Rhode Island Affiliate, American Civil Liberties Union, Youth Pride, Inc., Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island.

. Section 8-10-2 provides as follows:
"Purpose of chapter. — This chapter shall be liberally construed to the end that families whose unity or well-being is threatened shall be assisted and protected, and restored, if possible, as secure units of law-abiding members; that each child coming within the jurisdiction of the family court shall receive the care, guidance and control which will conduce to his or her welfare and the best interests of the state; and that when a child is removed from the control of his or her parents, the family court shall secure for him or her care as nearly as possible equivalent to that which his or her parents should have given him or her.”

. Section 8-10-3 provides in pertinent part as follows:
"Establishment of court — Jurisdiction— Seal —Oaths—Masters.—(a) There is hereby established a family court, consisting of a chief judge and eleven (11) associate justices, to hear and determine all petitions for divorce from the bond of marriage and from bed and board; all motions for allowance, alimony, support and custody of children, allowance of counsel and witness fees, and other matters arising out of petitions and motions relative to real and personal property in aid thereof, including, but not limited to, partitions, accountings, re-ceiverships, sequestration of assets, resulting and constructive trust, impressions of trust, and such other equitable matters arising out of the family relationship, wherein jurisdiction is acquired by the court by the filing of petitions for divorce, bed and board and separate maintenance; all motions for allowance for support and educational costs of children attending high school at the time of their eighteenth (18th) birthday and up to ninety (90) days after high school graduation, but in no case beyond their nineteenth (19th) birthday; enforcement of any order or decree granting alimony and/or child support, and/or custody and/or visitation of any court of competent jurisdiction of another state; modification of any order or decree granting alimony and/or custody and/or visitation of any court of competent jurisdiction of another state on the ground that there has been a change of circumstances; modification of any order or decree granting child support of any court of competent jurisdiction of another state provided: (1) the order has been registered in Rhode Island for the purposes of modification pursuant to § 15-23.1-611, or (2) Rhode Island issued the order and has continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the parties; antenuptial agreements, property settlement agreements and all other contracts between persons, who at the time of execution of the contracts, were husband and wife or planned to enter into that relationship; complaints for support of parents and children; those matters relating to delinquent, wayward, dependent, neglected, or children with disabilities who by reason of any disability requires special education or treatment and other related services; to hear and determine all petitions for guardianship of any child who has been placed in the care, custody, and control of the department for children, youth, and families pursuant to the provisions of chapter 1 *965of title 14 and chapter 11 of title 40; adoption of children under eighteen (18) years of age; change of names of children under the age of eighteen (18) years; paternity of children born out of wedlock and provision for the support and disposition of such children or their mothers; child marriages; those matters referred to the court in accordance with the provisions of § 14-1-28; those matters relating to adults who shall be involved with paternity of children born out of wedlock; responsibility for or contributing to the delinquency, waywardness, or neglect of children under sixteen (16) years of age; desertion, abandonment, or failure to provide subsistence for any children dependent upon such adults for support; neglect to send any child to school as required by law; bastardy proceedings and custody to children in proceedings, whether or not supported by petitions for divorce or separate maintenance or for relief without commencement of divorce proceedings; and appeals of administrative decisions concerning setoff of income tax refunds for past due child support in accordance with §§ 44-30.1-5 and 40-6-21. The holding of real estate as tenants by the entirety shall not in and of itself preclude the family court from partitioning real estate so held for a period of six (6) months after the entry of final decree of divorce.
"(e) The family court shall have exclusive initial jurisdiction of all appeals from any administrative agency or board affecting or concerning children under the age of eighteen (18) years and appeals of administrative decisions concerning setoff of income tax refunds, lottery set offs, insurance intercept, and lien enforcement provisions for past due child support, in accordance with §§ 44-30.1-5 and 40-6-21, and appeals of administrative agency orders of the department of human services to withhold income under chapter 16 of title 15.
"(f) The family court shall have jurisdiction over those civil matters relating to the enforcement of laws regulating child care providers and child placing agencies.
"(g) The family court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of matters relating to the revocation or nonrenewal of a license of an obligor due to noncompliance with a court order of support, in accordance with chapter 11.1 of title 15.”

. Unlike the dissent, we do not view the parties' visitation agreement as "one that is in the nature of a private property settlement agreement.” A person's agreement to allow or to obtain visitation with a child is not in the nature of a private property agreement because a child is not property, nor is the right to visit with a child in the nature of an interest in property.

. The dissent espouses several rather extravagant assertions about what the majority of the Court supposedly has determined in this case. Without responding to each of these assertions, we would simply caution the reader that our silence does not imply our acquiescence or agreement. Thus, for example, we deny that we have modified the General Assembly’s definition of paternity, judicially legislated an amendment to § 8-10-3, or recognized "that a man can become pregnant after intercourse with a woman and then require the woman to pay for his hospital and delivery expenses.” These and other like assertions about this opinion are baseless. For example, the dissent’s assertion that "all roads from [G.L.1956] § 15-8-1 lead directly to the ‘father ’ of any child born in, or out of wedlock” overlooks the maternal-relationship superhighway running down the middle of § 15-8-26.

. See In re H.S.H-K., 193 Wis.2d 649, 533 N.W.2d 419, 434 (1995). There, the Wisconsin Supreme Court explicitly overruled ZJ.H. and concluded that "public policy considerations do not prohibit a court from relying on its equitable powers to grant visitation apart from [a statute] on the basis of a co-parenting agreement between a biological parent and another when visitation is in the child’s best interest.” (Emphasis added.)

. In Waldeck v. Piner, 488 A.2d 1218, 1219 (R.I.1985), this Court referred to chapter 8 of title 15 as the "Uniform Paternity Act.” In fact, the popular name that the General Assembly gave to this chapter was the "Uniform Law on Paternity.” See P.L.1979, ch. 185, § 2. Moreover, the term "Uniform” in our "Uniform Law on Paternity” is somewhat of a misnomer. Unlike other states, Rhode Island has adopted a substantial number of sections from both the Uniform Act on Paternity as well as the Uniform Parentage Act in order to create a statute that covers aspects of both these uniform laws.

. The General Assembly adopted G.L.1956 §§ 15-8-1, 15-8-2, 15-8-4, 15-8-5, 15-8-10, and 15-8-21, in whole or in part, from the Uniform Act on Paternity, §§ 1,2, 3, 4, 6, and 13 respectively. 9B U.L.A. 347-68 (1987).

. The General Assembly adopted §§ 15-8-3, 15-8-7, 15-8-9, 15-8-15, 15-8-16, 15-8-17, 15-8-18, 15-8-19, 15-8-23, and the provision in question, 15-8-26, from the Uniform Parentage Act, §§ 4, 8, 8(c), 12, 14, 20, 15, 17, 23, and 21, respectively. 9B U.L.A. 334-45 (1987).

. While the word "paternity” implies the "fathering” of a child, we are mindful of the Legislature’s instruction that when statutes are construed "[e]very word importing the masculine gender only, may be construed to extend to and to include females as well as males.” G.L.1956 § 43-3-3. Thus, two *971women may certainly be "adults who shall be involved with paternity” of a child for purposes of this statute.

. During oral argument, it was asserted that this grant of jurisdiction was intended only to permit the Family Court to provide financial support for children bom out of wedlock by giving the Family Court jurisdiction over any adult involved with the paternity of such children. It is clear to us, however, that even though this language does give the Family Court authority to make and enforce support orders, it is not so limited by its terms. Thus, under this provision DiCenzo could petition the Family Court for an order requiring Ru-bano to provide support for the child. But nothing in the language of the statute indicates that the "matters” over which the Family Court has jurisdiction are limited to financial matters. Thus, in the absence of such a statutory limitation, we hold that the jurisdiction of the Family Court extends to matters such as visitation that are reasonably related to the parties’ involvement with the paternity of a child bom out of wedlock. Moreover, even a cursory review of the plain language of § 8-10-3 reveals multiple subsections that do not require that all matters brought under this statute relate to petitions for divorce or *972separate maintenance, as the dissent contends. These subsections include, without limitation,
"those matters relating to delinquent, wayward, dependent, neglected, or children with disabilities who by reason of any disability require special education or treatment and other related services; to hear and determine all petitions for guardianship of any child who has been placed in the care, custody, and control of the Department for Children, Youth and Families pursuant to the provisions of chapter 1 of title 14 and chapter 11 of title 40; adoption of children under eighteen (18) years of age; change of names of children under the age of eighteen (18) years; paternity of children bom out of wedlock and provision for the support and disposition of such children or their mothers; child marriages; those matters referred to the court in accordance with the provisions of § 14-1-28; those matters relating to adults who shall be involved with paternity of children born out of wedlock; *** bastardy proceedings and custody to children in proceedings, whether or not supported by petitions for divorce or separate maintenance or for relief without commencement of divorce proceedings ***.” Section 8-10-3(a). (Emphasis added.)
None of these above-specified subparts of § 8-10-3 requires that such proceedings thereunder be ancillary or incidental to petitions for divorce or separate maintenance filed in the Family Court. Accordingly, the dissent’s attempt to limit § 8-10-3's jurisdiction just to “those claims that are ancillary or incidental to petitions for divorce or separate maintenance filed in that court” is contrary to what the statute provides.