Man With No Blood Ties Wins Parental Rights : Courts: Ruling is believed first in state to grant paternity status to a person not biologically connected to the child and never married to the mother.

A Canoga Park man on Tuesday was declared the father of his former girlfriend’s 4 1/2-year-old boy--whom he helped raise and considers his own son but who was fathered by another man.

Attorneys involved in the case said they believe it is the first in California granting full parental rights to a man who is not biologically connected to the child and was never married to the mother.

In a ruling that grew out of a two-year paternity dispute, Larry McLinden, 43, was granted parental rights to Larry McLinden Jr. by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dana Senit Henry. The ruling was opposed by the boy’s mother, Karen Hamilton Munyer of Inglewood, who had lived with McLinden during the first two years of the boy’s life.

The two have shared custody since their live-in relationship ended two years ago.

Despite there being no biological relationship between McLinden and the boy, Henry found that the two had a close relationship and that separating them would result in “severe” psychological harm to the boy.

“Larry Jr. has never known any other father,” Henry wrote in her ruling. “To not recognize Larry as an equitable parent would be to denigrate the basic philosophy of family law. The conclusion reached by this court is one of fundamental fairness. . . .

“Larry McLinden is hereby declared under the principles of equitable parenting to be the father of Larry Jr. and therefore will be accorded the rights of a natural parent.”

Munyer’s attorney, Steven Rein, said the ruling will be appealed.

“I think it is precedent-setting, and I am upset about it,” Rein said. “Cases have previously held that you don’t have standing to bring a paternity suit if you are not the biological father.”

McLinden’s attorney, Glen H. Schwartz, said, “To my knowledge, this is the first time a man has been adjudged to be the father of a child to whom he does not have a biological connection” and to whose mother he has not been married.

Scott Altman, an associate law professor at USC and an expert on family law, called the ruling a “path-breaking” decision that will put McLinden on equal footing with the boy’s mother when custody issues are decided.

“I can’t say whether it is unique but it seems to me to be very unusual,” Altman said of the ruling.

McLinden, an investment banker, met Munyer in 1982 when she worked as a secretary in the same office, court records show. They had an on-and-off relationship until they moved in together in 1986. Nine months later, the boy was born, records show.

After Munyer moved out in 1989, McLinden filed a lawsuit seeking paternal rights, even after a blood test proved he was not the boy’s father.

Court records do not definitively identify the true father. Munyer has named a Los Angeles man; he has taken a court-ordered blood test but the results are not yet in, Rein said.

During a three-week trial, McLinden argued that he deserved full rights as a father because the boy believed him to be his true father, he is listed as the boy’s father on the birth certificate and other records and he was led to believe he was the boy’s father until Munyer ended their relationship.

Munyer, who has since married, testified that McLinden knew all along that he was not the boy’s father and that the two broke up after he reneged on a promise to marry her.

Munyer said she did not want McLinden to have paternal rights because it would prevent her husband from adopting the boy.

McLinden and Munyer now share custody of the boy equally, but Munyer said she fears that Tuesday’s ruling will result in McLinden winning court orders granting him custody of the boy most of the time. Henry has scheduled a hearing on the custody arrangement Jan. 27.

“That is my great fear--that I won’t have any time with my baby,” Munyer said.

McLinden was overjoyed by the ruling. “I raised this child from birth, and there is a tremendous bond between us,” he said.