Family Law at the Court of Appeals

On the 11th, the top NYS court heard arguments in Shondel J. v. Mark D, alternately known as Jackson v. DeSouza. The papers are sealed, but a summary of the case can be obtained in a pdf file at the court website.

This case deals with one of those quirks of family law that often ends up in the news every few months. For various reasons, a case seems to arise occasionally where a man who believed he was the biological father turns out not to be, but the courts hold that he's acted as the father so he's stuck in that role. That's, in a nutshell, the situation at hand--DNA tests proved Mark D. could not be the father, but lower courts held that he'd acted as the father and the period for contesting paternity had passed, so he was the father under the law.

I'll rein in my personal commentary (it would fill volumes) on this topic and just leave this as an FYI of an intriguing case currently being decided in NY.