Camden County Board of Social Services v. Yocavitch

In Camden County Board of Social Services v. Yocavitch, 251 N.J. Super. 24, 34, 596 A.2d 769 (Ch.Div.1991), the Chancery Division determined that a natural father can not use principles of equitable estoppel to deny a duty to pay child support based on a stepfather's representations. In Yocavitch, the stepfather consented to support for a non-biological child during and after the divorce. Id. at 28, 596 A.2d 769. When the Board of Social Services brought a paternity suit against the natural father, the natural father brought in the stepfather as a third-party defendant. Ibid. The trial court held that the natural father could not use equitable estoppel to deny his obligation because he could not demonstrate the three requirements of representation, reliance and detriment. Id. at 31, 596 A.2d 769. The trial court stated further that a stepfather's "inaction" (acceptance of a child as his own knowing that the child was not his) "is not that type of 'positive action interfering with the natural parent's support obligation' which Miller requires before the stepparent is bound." Id. at 31-32, 596 A.2d 769. Hence, Yocavitch does not allow a natural father to use "equitable estoppel as a shield to avoid his own obligation." Id. at 32, 596 A.2d 769.