Waldron v. Waldron

Wyoming Supreme Court · Family Law

Family LawUCCJEAAppellate Proceduretimely notice of appealjurisdictionmotion for reconsiderationW.R.A.P. 2.02final appealable order

Facts

About six years after the parties' divorce, Mother pursued termination of Father's parental rights in Pennsylvania while Father asked the Wyoming district court to hold Mother in contempt and to progress visitation. After the Pennsylvania and Wyoming judges communicated under the UCCJEA, the Wyoming court entered a March 18, 2014 order declining jurisdiction and ceding the matter to Pennsylvania. Father did not immediately appeal that order, but filed an objection and request for hearing a week later. The district court denied the objection on May 30, 2014, and Father filed his notice of appeal on June 26, 2014, more than three months after the original order declining jurisdiction.

Issue

Whether Father's post-order objection and request for hearing tolled the thirty-day deadline to appeal the district court's March 18, 2014 order declining jurisdiction. If not, whether the Wyoming Supreme Court lacked appellate jurisdiction because Father's notice of appeal was untimely.

Rule

A notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days of an appealable order, and that deadline is jurisdictional. In a civil case, only a timely motion under W.R.C.P. 50(b), 52(b), or 59, as recognized by W.R.A.P. 2.02, tolls the time to appeal; a filing that in substance merely seeks reconsideration of a previously entered judgment or appealable order does not toll the deadline. Whether a post-judgment filing tolls the appeal time depends on its substance, not its caption.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Casper, a district court handling a custody dispute enters an order stating that Colorado is the more convenient forum under the UCCJEA, declines jurisdiction over all pending custody and visitation motions, and closes the Wyoming case. Twelve days later, Jonah Mercer files a paper titled "Notice of Objection" asking the court to revisit that ruling, and he files a notice of appeal thirty-five days after the original order but five days after the objection is denied.

Is the appeal timely?

Explanation. The governing rule is that a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days of a final appealable order, and that deadline is jurisdictional. An order declining jurisdiction is final when it affects a substantial right, determines the merits of the controversy before the court, and leaves nothing further to decide. A later filing that in substance only asks the court to rethink that order is a motion for reconsideration, not a tolling motion under the appellate rules. (Derived from Waldron v. Waldron (n.d.).)