Dent v. Wolf

Filed 9/12/17 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

SUSAN DENT, B278951

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BF052146) v.

KENNETH S. WOLF, as Special Administrator, etc.,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Shelley Kaufman, Judge. Reversed.

O’Melveny & Myers, Mark A. Samuels; and Bradley N. Garcia for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Kenneth S. Wolf, in pro. per., for Defendant and Respondent.

******

After concluding that appellant Susan Dent lacked standing, the trial court dismissed her paternity lawsuit. The narrow issue on appeal is whether a child who seeks a declaration of paternity after her putative father is deceased presents a justiciable controversy when the child requests no financial remuneration. We conclude that Dent has standing to pursue her paternity lawsuit and reverse the dismissal. BACKGROUND On December 23, 2014, then 69-year-old Susan Dent filed a petition to establish parental relationship under Family Code section 7630.1 She named the executor of her putative father’s estate as respondent, and by the parties’ joint stipulation, the executor was later replaced by a special administrator (administrator). It is undisputed that Dent’s putative father died testate in 1985, and final judgment on his estate was entered in 1993. Administrator moved to dismiss Dent’s paternity petition “on the ground that the Petition presents no justi[c]iable controversy as it seeks only an Order determining paternity with no request for any relief or payments of any kind.” Administrator argued that Dent “does not stand to suffer any degree of injury in this matter, and only seeks to invoke the judicial process for apparently personal reasons. As a result, there is no actual controversy to be determined by this Court.” In response, Dent acknowledged that she was “not seeking any support or other financial relief.” Nor was “she seeking any distribution or other interest in the [putative father’s] Estate.” Instead she sought a declaration of paternity for reasons other than financial ones.