Hollomon v. Taylor , 303 Neb. 121 ( 2019 )


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  • Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library
    www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/
    06/21/2019 09:08 AM CDT
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    Nebraska Supreme Court A dvance Sheets
    303 Nebraska R eports
    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
    Cite as 
    303 Neb. 121
    Jami Hollomon, appellant, v.
    A lex Taylor, appellee.
    ___ N.W.2d ___
    Filed May 10, 2019.     No. S-18-959.
    1. Child Custody: States: Judgments. Whether a child custody determi-
    nation issued by a court of another state may be registered in Nebraska
    presents a question of law.
    2. Judgments: Appeal and Error. On a question of law, an appellate court
    is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the determination
    reached by the court below.
    3. Child Custody: Jurisdiction: Judgments. When the registration pro-
    cedure of 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-1252
     (Reissue 2016) has been followed
    and the registration is either not contested or, after a hearing none of the
    grounds under § 43-1252(d) have been established, the registering court
    shall confirm the registered order.
    4. Child Custody: Jurisdiction. Proceedings to register a child custody
    determination from a foreign jurisdiction under the Uniform Child
    Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, with or without a simulta-
    neous request for enforcement, are generally ministerial, and concerns
    about whether the registering court may properly exercise jurisdiction
    over a subsequent child custody proceeding are not yet implicated.
    Appeal from the District Court for Seward County: James C.
    Stecker, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions.
    Nicholas R. Glasz for appellant.
    Michael S. Kennedy, of Kennedy Law Firm, P.C., L.L.O.,
    for appellee.
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    Nebraska Supreme Court A dvance Sheets
    303 Nebraska R eports
    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
    Cite as 
    303 Neb. 121
    Heavican, C.J., Miller-Lerman, Cassel, Stacy, Funke,
    Papik, and Freudenberg, JJ.
    Stacy, J.
    Jami Hollomon and Alex Taylor are the unmarried par-
    ents of a minor child. After the State of Texas entered an
    order adjudicating parentage and establishing a parenting plan,
    Hollomon attempted to register the Texas order in Nebraska.
    The district court for Seward County denied the request
    after concluding it “should decline jurisdiction” under the
    Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act
    (UCCJEA).1 Hollomon appeals, and we reverse the order and
    remand the cause with directions to register and confirm the
    Texas order.
    FACTS
    Hollomon and Taylor had a child together in 2016. On
    June 11, 2018, the district court for Van Zandt County,
    Texas, entered an “Order Adjudicating Parentage” in case
    No. FM16-00080. In addition to establishing paternity of the
    minor child, the order approved the parties’ mediated parent-
    ing plan and addressed issues of custody, support, and parent-
    ing time.
    The Texas order identified a “Seward, NE” address for
    Hollomon and identified a Texas address for Taylor. The order
    gave Holloman the “exclusive right to designate the primary
    residence of [the child] without regard to geographic location
    of [Taylor].” Taylor was ordered to maintain health insurance
    for the child and to pay monthly child support. The order
    also set out a “Possession Order” which designated the par-
    ties’ parenting time. As relevant to the issues on appeal, the
    order established two different possession schedules for the
    1
    
    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 43-1226
     to 43-1266 (Reissue 2016 & Cum. Supp.
    2018).
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    303 Neb. 121
    child: one schedule for “Parents Who Reside 100 Miles or
    Less Apart,” and another for “Parents Who Reside More Than
    100 Miles Apart.” Under the provisions applicable to parents
    residing more than 100 miles apart, Hollomon was given “a
    superior right of possession” of the child. It does not appear
    that any provision of the Texas order expressly required either
    Hollomon or Taylor to reside in Texas.
    On August 15, 2018, about 2 months after the Texas order
    was issued, Hollomon sought to register the order in the
    district court for Seward County pursuant to § 43-1252. She
    filed a certified copy of the Texas order, accompanied by her
    affidavit requesting registration of the order in Nebraska. She
    did not simultaneously request to enforce or modify the Texas
    order. Hollomon’s affidavit averred, among other things, that
    (1) she had been awarded custody of the minor child by the
    Texas order; (2) to the best of her knowledge and belief, the
    Texas order had not been modified; (3) she moved to Seward
    in November 2017 and intended to make Nebraska her per-
    manent home; and (4) she was currently living with the child
    at an “undisclosed residence in Seward County, Nebraska.”
    Although the affidavit did not explain why, Hollomon averred
    that the health, safety, or liberty of Hollomon or the child
    would be jeopardized by disclosure of her identifying infor-
    mation, and she asked that the information be sealed pursuant
    to § 43-1246(e).
    The next day, pursuant to § 43-1252(c), the clerk of the
    district court for Seward County sent notice to both Taylor
    and the Texas court that a “child custody determination issued
    by the court of Van Zandt County, Texas” in “Cause Number
    FM: 16-00080” had been filed in the district court for Seward
    County on August 15. The notice further stated:
    (a) a registered determination is enforceable as of the
    date of the registration in the same manner as a determi-
    nation issued by a court of this state;
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    (b) a hearing to contest the validity of the registered
    determination shall be requested within twenty days after
    service of notice; and
    (c) failure to contest the registration will result in con-
    firmation of the child custody determination and preclude
    further contest of that determination with respect to any
    matter that could have been asserted.
    The notice was personally served on Taylor August 23,
    2018. Thereafter, Taylor entered a voluntary appearance and
    requested a hearing on registration of the Texas order. His
    motion stated he was resisting registration, because the Texas
    order “fails to comply with the registration requirements of
    Nebraska” and because “Texas still has jurisdiction.”
    After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court
    made the following journal entry on October 1, 2018, which
    was signed and file stamped:
    The matter comes on for hearing to Register Foreign
    Judgment. Nicholas Glasz, attorney, appears with
    [Hollomon]. Mike Kennedy, attorney, appears with
    [Taylor]. Statements of counsel are made. Evidence is
    adduced. The court finds that pursuant to §43-1245, this
    court should decline jurisdiction due to the conduct of
    the mother, . . . Hollomon. The mother removed the child
    from the geographic limits of the Texas order without
    permission. The mother is currently subject to a contempt
    order in Texas which is currently being monitored by the
    Texas court that issued the order seeking to be registered.
    The Texas court has continuing jurisdiction over the mat-
    ter. The request for registration is denied.
    Hollomon timely appealed, and we moved the case to our
    docket on our own motion.
    ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
    Hollomon assigns, restated and consolidated, that the dis-
    trict court erred in denying registration of a foreign child
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    custody determination based on an unrelated foreign con-
    tempt order and an erroneous finding that Hollomon removed
    the minor child from the geographic limits of Texas with-
    out permission.
    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    [1,2] Whether a child custody determination issued by a
    court of another state may be registered in Nebraska presents
    a question of law.2 On a question of law, an appellate court is
    obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the determina-
    tion reached by the court below.3
    ANALYSIS
    Both parties’ briefing, and the order of the district court
    denying registration, generally frame the issue as whether
    Nebraska has jurisdiction over a “child custody proceeding”
    involving the parties’ child under the UCCJEA. But on this
    record, the only question presented is whether the Texas order
    may be registered in Nebraska.
    The statute governing registration of child custody determi-
    nations from another state is § 43-1252, which provides:
    (a) A child custody determination issued by a court of
    another state may be registered in this state, with or with-
    out a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending to
    the district court in this state:
    (1) a letter or other document requesting registration;
    (2) two copies, including one certified copy, of the
    determination sought to be registered, and a statement
    under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge
    and belief of the person seeking registration the order has
    not been modified; and
    2
    See In re Sophia G.L., 
    229 Ill. 2d 143
    , 
    890 N.E.2d 470
    , 
    321 Ill. Dec. 748
    (2008).
    3
    Friedman v. Friedman, 
    290 Neb. 973
    , 
    863 N.W.2d 153
     (2015).
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    303 Neb. 121
    (3) except as otherwise provided in section 43-1246,
    the name and address of the person seeking registration
    and any parent or person acting as a parent who has been
    awarded custody or visitation in the child custody deter-
    mination sought to be registered.
    (b) On receipt of the documents required by subsection
    (a) of this section, the registering court shall:
    (1) cause the determination to be filed as a foreign
    judgment, together with one copy of any accompanying
    documents and information, regardless of their form;
    and
    (2) serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to
    subdivision (a)(3) of this section and provide them with
    an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance
    with this section.
    (c) The notice required by subdivision (b)(2) of this
    section shall state that:
    (1) a registered determination is enforceable as of the
    date of the registration in the same manner as a determi-
    nation issued by a court of this state;
    (2) a hearing to contest the validity of the registered
    determination shall be requested within twenty days after
    service of notice; and
    (3) failure to contest the registration will result in con-
    firmation of the child custody determination and preclude
    further contest of that determination with respect to any
    matter that could have been asserted.
    (d) A person seeking to contest the validity of a reg-
    istered order shall request a hearing within twenty days
    after service of the notice. At that hearing, the court shall
    confirm the registered order unless the person contesting
    registration establishes that:
    (1) the issuing court did not have jurisdiction under
    sections 43-1238 to 43-1247;
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    (2) the child custody determination sought to be reg-
    istered has been vacated, stayed, or modified by a court
    having jurisdiction to do so under such sections; or
    (3) the person contesting registration was entitled to
    notice, but notice was not given in accordance with the
    standards of section 43-1233, in the proceedings before
    the court that issued the order for which registration is
    sought.
    (e) If a timely request for a hearing to contest the
    validity of the registration is not made, the registration is
    confirmed as a matter of law and the person requesting
    registration and all persons served shall be notified of
    the confirmation.
    (f) Confirmation of a registered order, whether by
    operation of law or after notice and hearing, precludes
    further contest of the order with respect to any matter that
    could have been asserted at the time of registration.
    [3] Taylor does not contend that Hollomon failed to comply
    with the procedural requirements of the registration statute, nor
    has he contested the registration on any of the grounds set out
    in § 43-1252(d). When the registration procedure of § 43-1252
    has been followed and the registration is either not contested
    or, after a hearing none of the grounds under § 43-1252(d)
    have been established, the registering court shall confirm the
    registered order.4 Thus, because Taylor requested a hearing but
    did not establish any of the grounds that would preclude confir-
    mation of the registered order under § 43-1252(d), the district
    court for Seward County was required, as a matter of law, to
    confirm the registered order.
    [4] To the extent the parties and the district court went
    beyond the ministerial issue of registration and analyzed
    whether the district court for Seward County has jurisdiction
    4
    § 43-1252.
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    HOLLOMON v. TAYLOR
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    303 Neb. 121
    to make or modify a child custody determination under
    §§ 43-1238 to 43-1245, their analysis was premature.
    Proceedings to register a child custody determination from
    a foreign jurisdiction under the UCCJEA, with or without a
    simultaneous request for enforcement, are generally ministe-
    rial, and concerns about whether the registering court may
    properly exercise jurisdiction over a subsequent child custody
    proceeding are not yet implicated.
    Here, no Nebraska court has yet been asked to make, or to
    modify, a child custody determination. Hollomon’s reason for
    seeking to register the Texas order in Nebraska was not articu-
    lated in her affidavit, and the record contains no simultaneous
    request for enforcement or modification. But even assuming
    Hollomon seeks to register the Texas order so she can subse-
    quently seek to enforce it, a proceeding seeking only to enforce
    a previously entered custody order is not a child custody
    proceeding as defined under the UCCJEA.5 As such, on this
    record, concerns about whether the district court for Seward
    County may exercise jurisdiction over a child custody proceed-
    ing are not yet implicated.6
    CONCLUSION
    For the foregoing reasons, the order of the district court is
    reversed, and the cause is remanded with directions to confirm
    the registered order.
    R eversed and remanded with directions.
    5
    See § 43-1227(4) (“[c]hild custody proceeding . . . does not include
    a proceeding involving . . . enforcement under sections 43-1248 to
    43-1264”).
    6
    See, e.g., Harter v. Szykowny, 
    2014 Ark. App. 701
    , 
    451 S.W.3d 215
    (2014); Berwick v. Wagner, 
    336 S.W.3d 805
     (Tex. App. 2011); In re Sophia
    G.L., supra note 2; Jamil v. Jahan, 
    280 Mich. App. 92
    , 
    760 N.W.2d 266
    (2008); Prickett v. Prickett, 
    167 P.3d 661
     (Wyo. 2007).
    

Document Info

Docket Number: S-18-959

Citation Numbers: 303 Neb. 121

Filed Date: 5/10/2019

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 7/26/2019