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Bailey v. Hall

The trial court was required to determine whether a change in the parties' relative circumstances was significant enough so as to alter the mother and putative father's legal rights.

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We granted Sharon Bailey’s application for interlocutory appeal to consider whether the superior court erred in denying her motion to dismiss on res judicata grounds in this legitimation action filed by Gregory Hall, the biological father of Bailey’ minor child. The relevant and undisputed facts are these: On April 3, 1994, Bailey and Hall had a child. Hall filed a petition to legitimate the child in 1996, which was denied on March 27, 1997. The court denied the petition because, at the time, Hall had no relationship with the child. Moreover, Bailey was married, she and her husband were providing a stable home for the child, and the child had a secure relationship with her mother’s husband. On July 31, 2003, Hall filed a second petition for legitimation alleging that, since 1997, the parties’ circumstances have changed. Hall alleges he has been paying child support for almost seven years, that he is married, and that he wishes to exercise visitation rights and be a parent to the child. Bailey has since divorced and her former husband did not adopt the child. There is no evidence that Hall’s parental rights were terminated.

After hearing oral argument on Bailey’s motion to dismiss, the trial court concluded that the doctrine of res judicata applied to bar the suit because there existed a prior final judgment on the merits and the causes of action, parties, and issues in both suits were identical. The court, however, declined to apply the doctrine based upon a “public policy” exception, stating that it would be “the better practice to reach the merits of the case and consider the best interests of the child.”

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