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Jones v. Smith

The trial court failed to issue findings of fact or conclusions of law to support its legitimation order under either the best interest or parental fitness standard.

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Kelly Smith, the biological father, filed a petition seeking to legitimate a child born on December 31, 1996 to his girlfriend, Lisa Jones. Following a bench trial the trial court granted Smith’s petition. On August 3, 2000, we granted Jones’ application for discretionary appeal. Jones’ fifth enumeration of error is that the trial court failed to make adequate findings of fact and conclusions of law. We agree.

The law relevant to a legitimation petition presented by the putative biological father has been explained by the Supreme Court in In re Baby Girl Eason, 257 Ga. 292, 296 358 SE2d 459 1987. The court must initially determine whether the father has abandoned his opportunity interest to develop a relationship with the child. Id. at 296. Then, depending on the nature of the putative father’s relationship with the child and other surrounding circumstances, the standard for evaluating whether legitimation is appropriate is either a test of his fitness as a parent or the best interests of the child. Id. at 296-297. See also LaBrec v. Davis, 243 Ga. App. 307, 312-316 2 534 SE2d 84 2000 aff’d Davis v. LaBrec, Case No. S00G1296, decided June 25, 2001. This decision is dependent on a variety of factors as spelled out in Eason and LaBrec.

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