In re Marriage of Johnson
Annotate this CaseShannon and Travis Johnson married, after which Shannon gave birth. Travis was named on the birth certificate as Child's father. Later DNA tests revealed Justin Walak was actually Child's father. When Shannon and Travis filed for dissolution of their marriage, Walak intervened, seeking a judicial establishment of a parental relationship with Child. Shannon and Travis then reconciled and sought to exclude Walak from establishing a relationship with Child. The district court issued an order (Order I) concluding it was not in Child's best interests to establish a parental relationship with Walak. Subsequently, Walak filed a motion challenging the court's factual findings and order. The district court then issued an order vacating Order I (Order II), which granted Walak parental rights. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court abused its discretion in granting Walak's posttrial motion and vacating its earlier order as it had no statutory or other authority to vacate Order I, change its legal conclusions, and issue a wholly contrary Order II.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.