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Johnson v. Johnson9/14/2000
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C.
[ ] The majority also relies on Geramifar v. Geramifar, 688 A.2d 475 (Md. App. 1997), to embrace the doctrine of equitable adoption. The factual dissimilarities of Geramifar to this case are not fully explored in the majority opinion. In Geramifar, a married couple residing in Maryland traveled to Iran , their native country, to adopt a child. Id. at 476. The couple obtained a temporary guardianship of a child in Iran and returned to the United States. Id. The couple did not initiate adoption proceedings in the United States. Id. The couple later separated and entered into a "bitter custody dispute." Id. Shortly before the custody hearing, the father agreed the mother should have custody, and he waived his right to adopt and right to visitation. Id. at 476-77.
[ ] As noted by the majority, the Maryland Court of Appeals has extended equitable adoption to impose child support obligations. Id. at 477-78. Concluding that the husband and wife had journeyed to the Republic of Iran and contracted to adopt, and provided mutual promises to each other and the Republic of Iran, the court held that an equitable adoption occurred. Id. at 478.
[ ] A husband and wife agreeing to travel abroad to adopt a child, coupled with the resulting custody dispute, certainly may be distinguished from a step-grandparent agreeing to temporarily care for the grandchild of his spouse. See Ceglowski v. Zachor, 102 F. Supp. 513 (D. N.D. 1951) (identifying similar circumstances where a couple traveled to Germany, obtained a child, and were held to have equitably adopted that child; cited by the majority at 16). Enforcement of an obligation such as that recognized in Geramifar is much more palpable considering that a child has been taken from his native country, has been brought to a new land, and can no longer seek support from his natural parents. Unlike the equitable remedy in Geramifar, the legal remedy in this case is still possible.
III.
[ ] The majority fails to acknowledge that the vast majority of states do not recognize child support obligations as a result of an "equitable adoption." Only a few states have done so, and only under very limited and cautious circumstances. The vast majority rule, however, is to not impose child support obligations upon a non-parent under the auspices of equitable adoption.
A.
[ ] In Prager v. Smith, 195 A.2d 257, 259 (D.C. Ct. App. 1963), the doctrine of equitable adoption was rejected. The court found that a natural father could not assert that he was no longer obligated to pay child support because the child's mother and her present husband engaged in conduct constituting an equitable adoption. Id. The court, citing long-established principles, stated the obligation "of a natural father to support his minor children is not simply a moral obligation but is a duty imposed by law." Id.
[ ] The majority decision casts the Prager rationale and our own longstanding jurisprudence into murky waters. The doctrine of equitable adoption can now be used as a sword to pierce the proverbial shield that our child support laws have provided for children of broken homes. With our consent requirements abrogated, a deadbeat dad or misfit mom can use the conduct of stepparents, who seek to mend the deleterious effects of a broken home, to cast aside their own obligations and impose them on another.
[ ] In a subsequent case, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals was again called upon to decide the issue. In Fuller v. Fuller, 247 A.2d 767 (D.C. Ct. App. 1968), a man married a woman who was four months pregnant by another man. Id. at 768. The husband promised to care for the child, to provide a goo
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