Maine ex rel. Fabian v. Fabian

This petition is brought by the State of Maine, Department of Health & Welfare, under the provisions of RSA ch. 546, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Law, on behalf of Michelle Fabian, the minor child of Rita Fabian, both residents of Kittery, Maine. The defendant interposed by way of special plea the defense of “res judicata and/or collateral estoppel” relying upon a divorce proceeding in which the defendant had been granted a divorce in 1972 from Rita Fabian. The Trial Court (Perkins, J.) ruled the divorce decree did not bar the present action.

At the conclusion of the evidence…