Court Opinion

ID: 9654418
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 18:19:38.126536+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:09.041719
License: Public Domain

GILDEA, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. I agree with the majority that Barnett benefits from the presumption of paternity found in Minn. Stat. § 257.55, subd. 1(a) (2004). I depart from the majority in its conclusion that the presumption is conclusive. In my view, this construction is inconsistent with the Parentage Act. I would affirm the court of appeals.
The statute of limitations and standing requirements of Minn.Stat. § 257.57, subdivision 1(b) (2004), by the statute’s plain language, apply only to actions brought “[f]or the purpose of declaring the nonexistence of [a presumed] father and child relationship.” As the court of appeals correctly observed, the case at bar is not such an action. In re Estate of Jotham, 704 N.W.2d 210, 213-14 (Minn.App.2005). Rather, this is a probate proceeding instituted for the purpose of determining the appropriate devolution of Jotham’s property upon his death. Because Nelson has not brought an action under section 257.57, subdivision 1(b), the requirements in that subdivision do not apply to her attempt to rebut the presumption of Jotham’s paternity of Barnett.
Notwithstanding the plain language, the majority imports the statute of limitations and standing requirements of section 257.57 into this case through its construction of section 257.55. In section 257.55, subdivision 2, the Parentage Act provides *458that a paternity presumption may be rebutted “in an appropriate action only by clear and convincing evidence.” Minn. Stat. § 257.55, subd. 2 (2004). To render the requirements of section 257.57, subdivision 1(b), applicable to Nelson, the majority construes “an appropriate action” to mean a suit in which the party seeking to rebut a paternity presumption satisfies the standing requirements and statute of limitations óf Minn.Stat. § 257.57 (2004). I disagree.
We have said that rules of statutory construction “forbid adding words or meaning to a statute that were intentionally or inadvertently left out.” Genin v. 1996 Mercury Marquis, 622 N.W.2d 114, 117 (Minn.2001); see River Valley Truck Ctr., Inc. v. Interstate Cos., Inc., 704 N.W.2d 154, 167 (Minn.2005) (“[T]he rules of statutory construction forbid us from adding words to a statute.”); Phelps v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., 537 N.W.2d 271, 274 (Minn.1995) (noting that courts should not read into statutes restrictions that the legislature did not include). Yet, the majority reads into section 257.55, subdivision 2, the standing and timeliness requirements of section 257.57, restrictions which the plain language of the Parentage Act make inapplicable here.
In my view, if the legislature meant “an appropriate action” to have the narrow meaning the majority ascribes to it, the legislature could have so provided.1 In fact, in other sections of the Parentage Act, the legislature displayed its ability to specifically identify a .Parentage Act suit by referring to a Parentage Act suit as “[a]n action under sections 257.51 to 257.74,” MinmStat. § 257.65 (2004), “an action to determine the existence of the father and child relationship under sections 257.51 to 257.74,” Minn.Stat. § 257.651 (2004), and “an action brought under sections 257.51 to 257.74,” Minn.Stat. § 257.59, subd. 1 (2004). The legislature’s use of a different phrase in section 257.55, subdivision 2, strongly indicates that the legislature meant to denote something other than a Parentage Act suit. See 2A Norman J. Singer, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 46.06 (6th ed. 2000) (“[WJhen the legislature uses certain language in one part of the statute and different language in another, the court assumes different meanings were intended.”); cf. Vlahos v. R & I Constr. of Bloomington, Inc., 676 N.W.2d 672, 677 n. 4 (Minn.2004) (“The legislature would not have employed different terms in different subdivisions of the statute if it had intended those subdivisions to have the same effect.”).
I agree with the court of appeals that a probate proceeding such as the instant case is “an appropriate action” in which a presumption of paternity may be rebutted. Jotham, 704 N.W.2d at 214-15. Minnesota Statutes § 645.45 (2004) provides that the word “action,” when used in a statute, means “any proceeding in any court of this state.” “Appropriate” is defined as “suitable” or “compatible.” American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 91 (3rd ed.1992); MerriamAWebster’s Collegiate Dictionary 57 (10th ed.1993); see also Minn.Stat. § 645.08(1) (2004) (providing that words in a statute are construed according to their common usage). Permitting rebuttal of a paternity presumption for intestacy purposes does not interfere with the purpose of the Parentage Act, which we have recognized is to enforce child support obligations. See In re *459Estate of Palmer, 658 N.W.2d 197, 200 (Minn.2003). Thus, I would hold that a probate proceeding is “an appropriate action” within the meaning of section 257.55, subdivision 2.2
An examination of other provisions in the Parentage Act confirms that this result accords with legislative intent. For example, in section 257.66, subdivision 1, the legislature provided that a “judgment or order of the court determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship is determinative for all purposes.” Consistent with this provision, a paternity presumption would be conclusive in a probate case if the presumption had been the subject of a court order or judgment. See id. The presumption at issue here was not the subject of a “judgment or order of the court,” and therefore, consistent with section 257.66, subdivision 1. it should not be deemed conclusive.
The majority’s construction, however, converts what the legislature intended to be a rebuttable presumption3 into a presumption that essentially becomes conclusive after three years. Under the majority’s reasoning, a party need not obtain a Parentage Act judgment to conclusively establish a parent-child relationship, as section 257.66 contemplates. Instead, a party may simply wait for the three-year limitations period in section 257.57, subdivision 1(b), to expire and the paternity presumption to become irrefutable.4 In my view, such a construction runs afoul of the objective that statutes should “be construed as a whole so as to harmonize and give effect to all its parts.” Smith v. Barry, 219 Minn. 182, 187, 17 N.W.2d 324, 327 (1944).
Because I conclude that this probate proceeding is “an appropriate action” in which a presumption of paternity may be rebutted, I would affirm the court of appeals.

. The majority's citation of the 2002 revised version of the Uniform Parentage Act underscores this point. The revision referenced by the majority reveals both that the legislature is perfectly capable of specifying that a paternity presumption may be rebutted only by an action comporting with section 257.57 and that the legislature, not this court, is the appropriate body to do so.

. Even if, as the majority concludes, this is not "an appropriate action” within the meaning of section 257.55, our analysis cannot end there. If this is not "an appropriate action,” section 257.55, subdivision 2, does not set the evidentiary standard for rebuttal of the paternity presumption, and we must instead look to the common law, which developed its own demanding standard for overcoming a presumption of paternity based on marriage. See Golden v. Golden, 282 N.W.2d 887, 889 (Minn. 1979); State v. E.A.H., 246 Minn. 299, 306, 75 N.W.2d 195, 200 (1956); Haugen v. Swanson, 219 Minn. 123, 127, 16 N.W.2d 900, 902 (1944).

. As the Minnesota Court of Appeals has said, "[t]he presumptions contained in the Parentage Act are not conclusive of paternity, but rather create a functional set of rules that point to a likely father.” State v. Thomas, 584 N.W.2d 421, 424 (Minn.App.1998) (quotation omitted), rev. denied (Minn. Nov. 17, 1998).

.In addition, the majority’s construction renders the cause of action authorized by section 257.57, subdivision 1(a), superfluous upon expiration of the three-year statute of limitations in subdivision 1(b). See Minn.Stat. § 257.57, subd. 1(a) (noting that an action to establish paternity may be brought "[a]t any time”). Because a paternity presumption would be conclusive after the three-year period expired, an action under section 257.57, subdivision 1(a), to declare the existence of a presumed father-child relationship would be unnecessary. Thus, the majority's interpretation of the phrase "an appropriate action” violates the very canon of construction on which the majority purports to rely, that a statute must be construed to give effect to all of its provisions. Minn.Stat. § 645.16 (2004).