Britel v. Britel
California Court of Appeal
236 Cal. App. 4th 127 (2015)
- Written by Melissa Hammond, JD
Facts
In 2000, Jackie Stennett (plaintiff) and Amine Britel conceived a child, A.S., who was born out of wedlock. When Stennett told Britel that she was pregnant, Britel, a Muslim, informed her that he was “devastated” because having an out-of-wedlock child was contrary to his Muslim faith and would cause him to bear shame for the rest of his life. Britel told Stennett not to contact him and that he wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. Britel told his friend Youssef Choukri that he wanted Stennett to have an abortion, and later he told Choukri that she had in fact had an abortion. Britel was not listed on the birth certificate as A.S.’s father, and Stennett never sought a paternity order. Britel never provided any financial support to A.S. or met or communicated with her. Six years after A.S. was born, Stennett sent Britel an email telling him that A.S. wanted to have a relationship with him. Britel did not respond, so Stennett called him. Britel asked her not to phone again. Britel never informed his family about the child. In 2011, Britel, a world-class bicyclist, was struck and killed by a drunk driver and died intestate. Stennett petitioned to administer Britel’s estate and for A.S. to be declared Britel’s heir under California Probate Code § 6453(b)(2), which provided that a nonmarital child may establish that she is the natural child of an intestate decedent by proving that the decedent openly held out the child as his own. Over objections, the court admitted DNA evidence showing a 99.9996 percent probability that Britel was A.S.’s father. However, the court found that Stennett did not meet her burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that Britel openly held out A.S. as his child. The court denied Stennett’s petitions and granted the petition of Mouna Britel, Britel’s sister (defendant) to administer the estate. Rhita Britel, Britel’s mother (defendant) was named as Britel’s surviving parent and was thus determined to be Britel’s sole heir. Stennett appealed, claiming that the statutory scheme violated the equal-protection rights of nonmarital children.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ikola, J.)
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