On May 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma released its decision in Guzman v. Guzman. The primary issue in this case was whether Carmen Guzman had standing, or the legal right, to bring a paternity action against her wife, Adrieanna Guzman, in order to establish parental rights relative to her wife’s adopted child. 

Carmen and Adrieanna began a romantic relationship and moved in together in 2012. In early 2015, Adrieanna began fostering her relative’s child in the couples’ shared home. By the end of 2015, Adrieanna alone adopted this child formally. In February of 2017, Adrieanna and Carmen were married. But in January of 2019, after several months of separation, Carmen filed her paternity petition in an effort to establish custodial rights to and visitation with the child. Mere days later, Adrieanna filed her petition for dissolution of marriage against Carmen, and also entered a special appearance in the paternity action. Adrieanna argued that Carmen’s paternity petition should be dismissed because she did not have the legal right to establish parental rights under Oklahoma parentage laws. 

The trial court dismissed the paternity action upon Adrieanna’s motion, but Carmen appealed this decision and the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals reversed the trial court’s ruling. This decision was then appealed by Adrieanna to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and the trial court’s original order was affirmed by a majority of the Court: Carmen, in the majority’s view, was a step-parent, and therefore did not have the legal right to establish parental rights and duties through a paternity proceeding. 

The majority relied on another Oklahoma Supreme Court case, Byers v. Byers, in reaching this conclusion. In this case from 1980, the Court held that, upon the end of a marriage, a step-parent has no parental rights or obligations to non-biological, unadopted children. The Court also noted that “[b]ecause Oklahoma has no statutory provision specifically allowing step-parents to seek custody and/or visitation, step-parents have no right to seek custody or visitation with the child of a former spouse” (emphasis added). Ultimately, the majority in Guzman argued that Carmen could have adopted the child during the marriage and established her parental rights through the statutory adoption process. She could not, however, seek to establish those same rights through a paternity action, a proceeding which is limited statutorily and through case law to unmarried, biological parents. 

The concurring and dissenting opinions in Guzman indicate that there may be discord within the Court on this issue. In his concurrence, Justice Winchester writes: “A parental relationship is established two ways: biologically or by adoption,” and states that Oklahoma’s Adoption Code applies equally to heterosexual and same-sex couples. Justice Gurich rejects this notion in her dissenting opinion, and emphasizes that Oklahoma law has not been updated to keep pace with nationwide changes in the recognition of same-sex marriage and relationships. She specifically notes that Oklahoma statutes pursuant to adoption and parentage still refer only to “husband and wife.” Her dissent implores the Legislature to “enact laws that fairly and facially apply to every person capable of legally parenting a child in Oklahoma.” In the meantime, Justice Gurich argues that our courts should continue to adhere to the gold standard in family law cases: “the pursuit of the best interests of the child.” 

Ultimately, Guzman makes it clear that under the current statutory framework, a step-parent cannot use a paternity action to establish parental rights and duties to a minor child. However, the case also leaves ample room for the Legislature to modernize our laws with respect to same-sex partners and the parent-child relationships they establish. As a result, it is fair to assume that Oklahoma law in the realms of divorce, parentage, and adoption will evolve accordingly in the near future.

Written by: Plainview Legal Group PLLC and Becca Schmidt (student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and Legal Intern at Plainview Legal). 

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