Science Applications Internat. Corp. v. Superior Court

In this case we determine whether the presumption created by Family Code section 7611 and the standing rule embodied in section 7630 constitutionally may be applied to preclude an alleged biological father from establishing his paternity of a child born during the mothers marriage to another man. The husband in this case is presumed to be the childs natural father, as the child was born during the marriage (§ 7611, subd. (a)) and he has received the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural child (§ 7611, subd. (d)). Because, however, the husband and wife were not cohabiting at the time of conception, the presumption is not conclusive. (See, e.g., Steven W. v. Matthew S. (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1108, 1114; City and County of San Francisco v. Strahlendorf (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1911, 1915; § 7540.) The alleged biological father does not meet any of the statutory criteria for presumed fatherhood. He relies, instead, on an asserted constitutional liberty interest, protected as a matter of substantive due process, not to be denied the opportunity to establish a parental relationship with the child.