The sacred office of legal father

M.E.M., Jr. v. K.J., (December 5, 2025) is a recent case which discuss the sacred office of legal father. It comes to us on appeal from the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals’. In this case, they reviewed a juvenile case where the father challenged the termination of his parental rights. In this case, the Court of Civil Appeals further explained the holding in J.R.C. v. Mobile County Department of Human Resources, 342 So. 3d 580 (Ala. Civ. App. 2021). Namely, that a father cannot become a legal father merely by signing an unverified statement submitted to the Court.

The Petition for Termination

The Maternal Aunt filed petition in juvenile court to terminate parental rights of the mother. She asserted that there had never been a father adjudicated to the child or a presumed father that had been active in the life of the child. The Maternal Aunt later amended her petition to allege that the alleged father was listed on the child’s birth certificate. She asserted that if the court determines that the father had any parental rights under the laws of the state, the alleged father had effectively abandoned the minor child. In other words, a legal father was not present.

The alleged father filed an answer to the Maternal Aunt’s petition to terminate parental rights. He admitted he was the child’s father and denied that he abandoned the child. He stated that the mother had prohibited him from maintaining a relationship with the child.

The Juvenile court held a trial. Following the trial, the Juvenile Court entered a judgment terminating the mother’s and alleged father’s parental rights to the child and awarded permanent legal custody to the maternal aunt.

The Alleged Father appealed.

The Alleged Father raised several issues on appeal. He argued that the juvenile court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to terminate his parental rights because, he claimed, the record did not contain evidence establishing that he was the legal father of the child, among other things. The Court decided the case based on that argument alone, because that argument was strong enough to determine the final outcome. Therefore, the Court decided not to discuss any of the other issues that the alleged father raised.

The Court held that the alleged father’s admission of paternity contained in his unverified answer was not sufficient factual support of an adjudication of the alleged father’s paternity. Section 26-17-623, Ala Code 1975, authorizes a court adjudicating parentage to accept a verified admission of paternity. The alleged father did not admit paternity in a verified pleading or testify to his paternity during a hearing: thus, the alleged father did not meet the statutory requirements for his admission of paternity to be effective.

The Court stated that the evidence in the record on appeal does not establish that the paternity of the child was determined in the dependency judgment that awarded custody of the child to the maternal aunt. They also stated that they could not conclude that the maternal aunt established that the alleged father is the child’s presumed father. The Court determined that the maternal aunt failed to establish that the alleged father is the child’s legal father. And ruled that the juvenile court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to terminate the alleged father’s parental rights. Therefore, the Court voided that portion of the judgment terminating the parental rights of the alleged father.

The main take-a-way …

… for the legal community is that the office of legal father is sacred. The privileges and responsibilities of that office come through a few guarded pathways, including marriage and affidavit of paternity. In addition, adjudication of paternity through a verified statement is a very important and protected piece of the role that can make or break a case. The 2021 case of J.R.C. changed the world for the juvenile court’s jurisdiction over fathers. Here in M.E.M. the Court of Civil Appeals continues to be the guardians of access to the privileges and rights of a legal father.