T.D. v. M.M.M.
Supreme Court of Louisiana
730 So.2d 873 (La. 1999)
T.D. (plaintiff) filed for divorce from M.M.M. (defendant) after having a longtime affair with P.W. that produced a son, C.M.; P.W. suspected and later confirmed through testing that he was C.M.'s biological father and regularly visited the child with T.D.'s consent. When T.D. and M.M.M. separated, P.W. scaled back his visits at T.D.'s request, and after the divorce -- which gave T.D. custody and M.M.M. visitation -- T.D. ended the affair and cut off P.W.'s access to C.M. P.W. then intervened in the custody case with an avowal action to be declared C.M.'s legal father; the trial court recognized him as the biological father, but the court of appeals reversed, holding P.W.'s action was barred by laches, and P.W. sought review.
Whether the doctrine of laches bars a biological father's avowal action when the child's mother's own conduct caused the father to delay filing suit.