In Re the Support Obligation of Loomis

MILLER, Chief Justice (on reassignment).

[¶ 1.] In this opinion we hold that, under the facts of this case, the mother of an out-of-wedlock child is barred by the equitable doctrines of laches and estoppel from receiving retroactive child support.1

FACTS

[¶ 2.] In October 1982, David Loomis and Linda Teller had a brief sexual encounter in Gillette, Wyoming. Teller gave birth on July 15, 1983. Neither during the pregnancy nor afterwards did she tell Loomis that he fathered her child, even though they both lived in Gillette for approximately three years after the birth.2

[¶ 3.] When she was…