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Brewton v. Poss

The trial court erred in denying the putative father's motion to sever his legitimation petition which he mistakenly filed as part of an adoption proceeding.

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Kenneth Jason Poss initiated a proceeding to adopt T. J. B., the biological son of Kristen Poss, Kenneth’s wife. Lee Thomas Brewton, the putative biological father, filed a petition for legitimation of T. J. B. as a part of that proceeding. Kenneth moved to quash the petition, and the superior court granted the motion, giving rise to this discretionary appeal.1 Brewton contends that the superior court erred by ruling that he failed to meet the requirements for filing a petition for legitimation under OCGA § 19-7-22 and therefore denying his motion to sever the petition he filed in the adoption proceeding. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

The record shows that in February 2011, Kenneth filed in superior court a petition for adoption of T. J. B. and notified Brewton by publication.2 The last date of publication was February 25, 2011. On March 4, 2011, Brewton, represented by counsel, filed in the same court a petition for legitimation of his relationship with T. J. B., naming Kristen as a defendant, and he attempted to serve Kristen by mailing a copy to Albert Stone, Jr., who had filed the adoption petition on behalf of Kenneth.3 Brewton’s legitimation petition was filed with the same civil action number as Kenneth’s adoption petition, and no filing fee was required by the clerk.

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