Craft v. Hertz

182 N.W.2d 293, 1970 N.D. LEXIS 147
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 23, 1970
DocketCiv. 8622
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 182 N.W.2d 293 (Craft v. Hertz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craft v. Hertz, 182 N.W.2d 293, 1970 N.D. LEXIS 147 (N.D. 1970).

Opinion

PAULSON, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order of the District Court of Burleigh County, North Dakota, dated October 17, 1969, in favor of the plaintiff, Joyce E. Craft (formerly Joyce E. Hertz), and against the defendant, Theodore Wilmer Hertz, providing for support payments in the sum of $200 per month to be paid by Mr. Hertz to the Clerk of the District Court of Burleigh County, North Dakota, for transmittal to the Clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona. The origin of this case is based on a divorce decree obtained in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, in and for the county of Maricopa, on April 4, 1967, by which Mrs. Hertz and Mr. Hertz were divorced. In the divorce decree, Mrs. Hertz was awarded the custody of the four minor children of the parties, and the decree approved, ratified, confirmed, and adopted a settlement agreement entered into by the parties on March 2, 1967. The pertinent part of the settlement agreement provides :

“Insofar as the parties hereto have the right and authority, they agree that the wife shall have the custody, care, and control of CANDYCE HERTZ, age eight (8) years; CHRISTOPHER HERTZ, age five (5) years; CEVIN HERTZ, age two (2) years; and CINDY KIM HERTZ, age nine (9) years, the minor children of the parties hereto, with the husband to have the right to visit said children at all reasonable times and places, and the husband ’to have the right to temporary custody of said children for a reasonable vacation period during the summer school vacation months, with the husband to pay any transportation costs incident to such visitation.
“The husband shall pay to the wife the sum of Fifty ($50.00) Dollars on or before the 3rd day of each month for the support of each of the aforementioned children, commencing on April 3, 1967, and continuing thereafter, so long as the wife has the care, custody, and control of the said children until they reach their twenty-first birthday or are sooner married, self-supporting, or deceased, with said monthly child support payments tb be made through the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, or by military allotment.”

Mr. Hertz made the required payments of $200 per month for a period of approximately one year after the entry of the divorce decree. Mr. Hertz, at that time, reduced the payments to $50 per month, which was the amount of his dependency allotment. Mr. Hertz alleged that after he was transferred to Bismarck, North Dakota, by his employer, the United States Air Force, his former wife no longer permitted him visitation privileges with their children. He stated that this was true, even though he had made necessary travel arrangements, at his expense, to enable his children to fly by commercial airline from Arizona to North Dakota to visit him during the summer of 1968. However, no arrangements were made for an adult custodian to care for the children other than for supervision which might be furnished by the airline’s personnel.

Mrs. Craft, in February of 1969, filed a verified petition for child support with the Clerk of the Superior Court of Mari-copa County, Arizona, pursuant to the provisions of the Arizona Uniform Recipro *295 cal Enforcement of Support Act. The petition and the required certified support forms were later forwarded to the Clerk of the District Court of Burleigh County, North Dakota, where Mr. Hertz was and is a resident. Mr. Hertz was served, on September 23, 1969, with an order to show cause to appear in the District Court of Burleigh County, North Dakota, for a hearing on Mrs. Craft’s petition, to determine whether he should have the continuing duty to support their children. Mr. Hertz served his return to the order to show cause and answer, in which he alleged that Mrs. Craft violated his rights of visitation, which are set forth in the property settlement agreement and decree; and he further alleged that he is unable to pay the amount requested for child support. A hearing was held on the above proceeding on October 13, 1969, in the District Court of Burleigh County. The District Court, in its memorandum opinion, found that Mr. Hertz was capable of making the child support payments, and an order was executed on October 17, 1969, by the court, directing Mr. Hertz to make the prescribed payments forthwith. Mr. Hertz personally admitted service on the original order on October 23, 1969. He undertook an appeal to this Court in December of 1969 and demanded a trial de novo in this forum, pursuant to § 28-27-32 of the North Dakota Century Code.

Mr. Hertz’s demand for a trial de novo is improper, because he has appealed from an order. The statute authorizing trials anew in this Court applies only to judgments. § 28-27-32, N.D.C.C.; Guideman v. Heller, 151 N.W.2d 436 (N.D.1967); Dale v. Duffy, 44 N.D. 33, 176 N.W. 97 (1919).

In March of 1970, Mrs. Craft served and filed a motion to strike Mr. Hertz’s brief and to disallow costs, on the ground that his brief failed to discuss adequately the relevant law. The determination of the applicable law in the case at bar will be considered by the Court in analyzing the merits of the case. The motion filed by Mrs. Craft before this Court to strike Mr. Hertz’s brief and to disallow costs is denied because the motion is without merit.

The pertinent issues are whether Mr. Hertz has a continuing duty of child support because of the alleged refusal of his former wife to allow visitation privileges with their children, and whether the responding court, under the North Dakota Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (1968), had sufficient evidence before it to make the decision it rendered.

The relevant statutes, under the North Dakota Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (1968), Chapter 14-12.1, N.D.C.C., are:

“14-12.1-02. Definitions.—
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅝ sfc
“14. ‘Support order’ means any judgment, decree, or order of support in favor of an obligee whether temporary or final, or subject to modification, revocation, or remission, regardless of the kind of action or proceeding in which it is entered.
“14 — 12.1-07. Choice of law. — Duties of support applicable under this chapter are those imposed under the laws of any state where the obligor was present for the period during which support is sought. The obligor is presumed to have been present in the responding state during the period for which support is sought until otherwise shown.
“14-12.1-20. Hearing and continuance. — If the obligee is not present at the hearing and the obligor denies owing the duty of support alleged in the petition or offers evidence constituting a defense, the court, upon request of either party, shall continue the hearing to permit evidence relative to the duty to be adduced by either party by deposition or by appearing in person before the court. The court may designate the *296 judge of the initiating court as a person before whom a deposition may be taken.
“14-12.1-23. Rules of evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
182 N.W.2d 293, 1970 N.D. LEXIS 147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/craft-v-hertz-nd-1970.