Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
If a man listed on a birth certificate in Florida, and later DNA testing confirms he is not the biological father, is he automatically removed from the birth certificate? The short answer is no, because biology alone does not determine legal paternity in Florida. This was an issue in the case Bronner v. Longden, 4D2024-0638 (Fla. 4th DCA December 18, 2024).
The parties to this paternity action were never married but the legal father alleged he was present at the child’s birth, and that both he and the mother signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity at the hospital, resulting in him being named as the child’s father on the birth certificate. He further alleged that he had primary custody of the child for a significant part of the child’s life, and that once the mother began dating someone else, she resisted the legal father’s attempts to be in the child’s life. The mother responded with a motion to dismiss, alleging she was pressured by the legal father to add his name to the birth certificate, and she denied executing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity. The motion to dismiss was denied, and the mother filed an answer still alleging duress as to the acknowledgment of paternity.
Separately the purported biological father of the child filed a paternity action, but he did not join or serve the legal father with notice of the action. The biological father later moved to intervene in the case filed by the legal father. In the case filed by the biological father, the court entered an order declaring him to be the biological father and stating the parties agreed to mediate on issues of the parenting plan and child support. Meanwhile, in the legal father’s case, DNA testing was performed and after the results showed he was not biologically related to the child, the mother filed another motion to dismiss. Without holding an evidentiary hearing, the court dismissed the petition and made findings of fact in its order such as the acknowledgment of paternity “was fraudulently signed,” and that neither party “thought there was any possibility that Zion Bronner was the child’s biological father.” The legal father appealed.
The legal father argued on appeal that the trial court inappropriately considered and made findings of fact on a motion to dismiss, and treated the mother’s motion as a motion for summary judgment. The appellate court noted “‘A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of the complaint’ or petition.’ Barbado v. Green & Murphy, P.A., 758 So. 2d 1173, 1174 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). ‘[T]he court must accept the facts alleged therein as true and all inferences that reasonably can be drawn from those facts must be drawn in favor of the pleader.’”
The court held “Bronner’s petition alleged facts that would make him a “‘egal father’ entitled to the benefit of a presumption of paternity under Chapter 742. Van Weelde, 110 So. 3d at 920–21. He alleged that, since the child’s birth, he has actively coparented the child consistent with his status as a legal father. Accepting the facts in the petition as true, we must assume that Bronner was listed as the father on the child’s birth certificate after the parties had voluntarily completed an acknowledgment of paternity. See Flores v. Sanchez, 137 So. 3d 1104, 1108–09 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (holding that because the father’s ‘name appears on the [c]hild’s birth certificate as the [c]hild’s father, we must assume that the hospital complied with section 382.013(2)(c) by obtaining an affidavit or a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity from [the father] and the [m]other’).”
The court concluded “Here, the mother has alleged the existence of duress or fraud in the execution of the acknowledgment of paternity. The circuit court erred by finding the existence of duress or fraud based on the arguments of counsel, without holding an evidentiary hearing. We reverse the order of dismissal and remand to the circuit court to hold an evidentiary hearing on the mother’s claim that the acknowledgment of paternity should be voided due to fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. At such a hearing, the burden of proof shall be on the mother to establish the facts that would negate Bronner’s status as the legal father.”
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