Unrelated Man Given Custody of Girl : Courts: Kevin Thomas has no biological tie to the 5-year-old. But he was listed as the father on the birth certificate and has helped raised her.

In another legal case suggesting that parenthood involves more than genes, a Van Nuys man was granted primary custody Tuesday of a 5-year-old girl he has helped raise since birth, even though they are not related.

Although Kevin Thomas is not the first non-biological father to win paternity rights, his case is unusual because he and the girl’s mother--described as a former friend--never lived together, were never sexually involved and never had any illusions of his biological ties to the child, his attorney said.

Yet Thomas was so committed to raising the girl as his own that he changed his surname to match hers, was listed as father on the child’s birth certificate, and became involved in her daily care and education--driving to the mother’s home each morning to wake, feed and clothe the girl before school, attorney Glen H. Schwartz said.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Martha Goldin officially sanctioned the relationship by ordering that Courtney Thomas live with Kevin Thomas during the week and see her mother, Catherine Thomas, on weekends and holidays. The arrangement awards Kevin Thomas, a 43-year-old bill collections manager, full paternity rights.

“I’ve always been Courtney’s father, so when people congratulate me I’m caught a little off-guard,” Thomas said.

“It feels good and gives me peace of mind that the court confirmed I am Courtney’s father--with no adjectives, modifiers or restrictive words before that word father . I am father, plain and simple.”

Catherine Thomas, of Thousand Oaks, and her attorney, Arnold Freedland of Alhambra, could not be reached for comment.

The case is another example of the courts recognizing that “we have much more fluid family forms today” said family law expert Leslie Ellen Shear of Los Angeles. It also marks the seventh such victory for Encino attorney Schwartz, a specialist in parental suits involving nonbiological fathers.

Last year, Schwartz won paternity rights for a Canoga Park man who said he learned only after he and his girlfriend split up that he had not fathered their 4-year-old son. A similar case, won on behalf of an Orange County man, is pending before a state appeals court and could set a legal precedent, Schwartz said.

Although the plaintiffs in those cases had been sexually involved with the mothers and claimed a belief that they were the children’s biological fathers, Thomas’ lifelong devotion to Courtney and portrayal as her father gave him the same emotional bond the other men claimed, Schwartz said.

“The theory in all these cases is, it doesn’t matter what the father believes or the mother believes--it’s what the child believes. And in all these cases, the child was led to believe that Kevin or whoever was the natural father,” Schwartz said.