Boquet v. Boquet

Louisiana Court of Appeal
269 So. 3d 895 (2019)

ELI5:

Rule of Law:

In accordance with United States Supreme Court precedent requiring equal treatment for same-sex and opposite-sex marriages, the statutory presumption of parentage for a child born during a marriage and the corresponding one-year prescriptive period to disavow that parentage apply equally to the non-birth mother spouse in a same-sex marriage.

Facts:

Brittany Boquet and Nicole Boquet, a same-sex couple, married on December 18, 2015.
At the time of the marriage, Nicole was pregnant, and Brittany was fully aware of this fact.
A child was born to Nicole on February 5, 2016, during the course of the marriage.
From the child's birth, Brittany was aware of the circumstances indicating she was not the biological parent.
Brittany and Nicole filed a joint tax return for 2016, claiming tax benefits associated with having the child.

Procedural Posture:

On March 14, 2017, Brittany Boquet filed a petition for divorce against Nicole Boquet in a Louisiana trial court, initially acknowledging the child and seeking joint custody.
On April 19, 2017, Nicole Boquet filed an answer and a reconventional demand seeking child support from Brittany.
On April 28, 2017, Brittany Boquet filed a petition for declaratory judgment and disavowal of the minor child.
Nicole Boquet responded by filing an exception of prescription, arguing the disavowal action was filed too late.
The trial court granted Nicole's exception of prescription, dismissing Brittany's action.
Brittany Boquet, as appellant, appealed the trial court's judgment to the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit.

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Issue:

Does the one-year prescriptive period for a husband to file a disavowal of paternity action, as provided in La.Civ.Code art. 189, apply to the non-birth mother spouse in a same-sex marriage seeking to disavow parentage of a child born during the marriage?

Opinions:

Majority - Saunders, Judge

Yes, the one-year prescriptive period to disavow parentage applies to the non-birth mother spouse in a same-sex marriage. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Obergefell v. Hodges and Pavan v. Smith, the court reasoned that the 'constellation of benefits' and obligations linked to marriage must be applied equally to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Therefore, Louisiana Civil Code articles 185 (presumption of paternity) and 189 (one-year prescription for disavowal) must be interpreted in a gender-neutral manner to be constitutional. Because Brittany knew she was not the biological parent from the child's birth on February 5, 2016, the one-year prescriptive period began to run on that date, expiring on February 5, 2017. Her disavowal action, filed on April 28, 2017, was therefore untimely and correctly dismissed by the trial court as prescribed.

Analysis:

This decision illustrates the direct application of federal constitutional principles from Obergefell to state-level family law statutes. It confirms that the rights and obligations of parentage, which traditionally used gender-specific language (husband/father), are extended equally to same-sex spouses. The ruling solidifies that a non-biological parent in a same-sex marriage is presumed to be a legal parent and is bound by the same strict time limits to challenge that status as a presumed father in an opposite-sex marriage. This prevents a party from enjoying the benefits of parentage (like tax deductions) and then later disclaiming the responsibilities (like child support) after the statutory window has closed.

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