ROBERT L STANTON V WENDY J DEIBLER BAUGH
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
ROBERT L. STANTON,
UNPUBLISHED
November 30, 2001
Plaintiff-Appellant,
V
No. 224783
Ingham Circuit Court
Family Division
LC No. 98-006492-DP
WENDY J. DEIBLER-BAUGH,
Defendant-Appellee.
Before: White, P.J., and Talbot and E.R. Post*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Plaintiff appeals as of right from an order granting summary disposition for defendant,
apparently under MCR 2.116(C)(5), on the ground that plaintiff lacked standing to bring this
paternity action. We affirm.
This Court reviews a trial court’s decision regarding a motion for summary disposition de
novo. Spiek v Dep’t of Transportation, 456 Mich 331, 337; 572 NW2d 201 (1998). Standing to
pursue relief under the paternity act, MCL 722.711 et seq., is conferred on the mother of a child
born out of wedlock, the father of a child born out of wedlock, or the Family Independence
Agency on behalf of a child born out of wedlock. MCL 722.714(1), (10). For purposes of the
act, a child is born out of wedlock if the mother was unmarried from the conception to the birth
of the child, or if the child is one that “the court has determined to be a child born or conceived
during a marriage but not the issue of that marriage.” MCL 722.711(a). In Girard v
Wagenmaker, 437 Mich 231, 242; 470 NW2d 372 (1991), our Supreme Court interpreted this
language to mean that a circuit court must have made a determination that the child was not the
issue of the marriage before the complaint for paternity is filed, such as in connection with a
divorce action.
The child in this case does not meet the definition of a child born out of wedlock under
either clause of the statutory definition. At the time the child was conceived and born, defendant
was married and her then-husband’s name appears on the child’s birth certificate. Further, there
was no circuit court determination before this action was filed that the child was the issue of that
marriage; in fact, defendant’s divorce judgment acknowledged that the child was born of the
marriage. Because the child was not born out of wedlock as defined under the paternity act,
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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plaintiff lacked standing to bring this action. See also Spielmaker v Lee, 205 Mich App 51, 5354; 517 NW2d 558 (1994); Afshar v Zamarron, 209 Mich App 86, 90; 530 NW2d 490 (1995).
Plaintiff contends that his alleged biological link coupled with his established relationship
with the child created a recognized liberty interest as the child’s father. Citing Hauser v Reilly,
212 Mich App 184; 536 NW2d 865 (1995), he asserts that a finding that he lacked standing
deprived him of his right to due process. Plaintiff is correct that the Hauser Court found a
putative father could have a liberty interest derived from his biological link with his child and a
substantial parent-child relationship, and that such a claim must be afforded appropriate due
process. Hauser, supra at 187-188. In McHone v Sosnowski, 239 Mich App 674, 678-680; 609
NW2d 844 (2000), however, this Court refused to apply Hauser on facts similar to those in this
case, concluding that Hauser’s discussion of a putative father’s liberty interest was dictum.
Plaintiff’s argument fails under McHone. Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court’s
decision to grant summary disposition for defendant.
Affirmed.
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Michael J. Talbot
/s/ Edward R. Post
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