Cristall v. Cristall

242 P.3d 1060, 225 Ariz. 591, 596 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 223
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 2, 2010
Docket1 CA-CV 09-0645
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 242 P.3d 1060 (Cristall v. Cristall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cristall v. Cristall, 242 P.3d 1060, 225 Ariz. 591, 596 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 223 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

242 P.3d 1060 (2010)

Barbara Mavis CRISTALL, Petitioner/Appellee,
v.
Robert Ivor Lee CRISTALL, Respondent/Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CV 09-0645.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department A.

December 2, 2010.

*1061 McGuire Gardner, P.L.L.C. By Pernell W. McGuire, Flagstaff, Attorneys for Respondent/Appellant.

Law Office of Russell S. Duerksen By Russell S. Duerksen, Chino Valley, and The Counters Firm, P.C. By Lisa Counters, Prescott, Attorneys for Petitioner/Appellee.

THOMPSON, Judge.

¶ 1 Appellant Robert Cristall (Robert) appeals the trial court's denial of various motions contesting the validity of a foreign judgment entered and domesticated in Arizona by appellee, Barbara Cristall (Barbara). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In 1986, Barbara and Robert entered into a property settlement agreement following their divorce, resulting in a consent judgment entered by a California superior court. On December 2, 1996, Barbara filed the California judgment in the Yavapai County Superior Court (trial court), along with an affidavit and a Notice of Filing Foreign Judgment, giving Robert notice "pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-1703(B)" that the California judgment had been filed, and proof that the notice had been mailed to Robert. In February 1997, Robert filed an objection to domestication of the foreign judgment, arguing the judgment was unenforceable because it was time-barred by Arizona's statute of limitations governing the enforcement of foreign judgments, Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) § 12-544(3) (2010).[1] Barbara filed a response and the court held a hearing on Robert's objection on April 15, 1997. The trial court overruled Robert's objection and ordered that the judgment "shall enter."

¶ 3 Accordingly, the trial court entered a "judgment domesticating foreign judgment" on May 8, 1997, which ordered the clerk of the court to "treat the Foreign Judgment in the same manner as a Judgment of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona." Pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-1612 (2010), Barbara renewed the judgment every five years thereafter by affidavits filed on May 1, 2002 and April 27, 2007.

¶ 4 In January 2007, Barbara signed a document stating as follows:

I am the Petitioner and Judgment Creditor in the matter of Barbara Mavis Cristall v. Robert Ivor Lee Cristall, Case No. WED 043657, Superior Court of California/Central Division and Case No. DO 961037, State of Arizona/County of Yavapai.
On January 27, 2007 I assigned all collection rights in the above two judgments to Paragon Financial Fitness Inc., a California Corporation.

¶ 5 Thereafter, Paragon Financial Fitness, Inc. (Paragon) initiated collection activities by issuing subpoenas to Robert and pursuing a debtor's examination. In April 2008, an attorney representing Paragon sent Robert's attorney a letter, which stated, "[p]lease find enclosed a copy of the assignment signed by Barbara Cristall's [sic] assigning her judgments against your client to Paragon."

¶ 6 In February 2009, Barbara petitioned the trial court for supplemental proceedings pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-1631, requesting an order which would require Robert to "appear and answer concerning his property" at a *1062 debtor's examination. The trial court entered an order scheduling Robert's examination for March 24, 2009, and Robert filed an objection. Robert also filed an objection in April 2009 to Barbara's petition for supplemental proceedings.

¶ 7 In May 2009, Robert filed a motion to set aside judgment, motion to compel, and motion to stay enforcement of the judgment. He argued the judgment was void because Barbara's 2002 and 2007 renewals were untimely. He also alleged that if Paragon was the owner of the judgment, not Barbara, she therefore lacked authority to renew the judgment. Robert's motion to compel argued it was "necessary to establish the true owner of the judgment," and requested the court compel Paragon to respond to a subpoena. The subpoena sought information "related to [Paragon's] acquisition of and/or obtaining an interest in the Judgment," communications between Paragon and Barbara, and "documents evidencing any amounts paid or other consideration transferred by [Paragon] to Barbara [ ] in exchange for any interest in the Judgment."

¶ 8 The trial court held oral argument on June 15, 2009. The trial court denied Robert's motions in August 2009, finding Barbara timely renewed the judgments and that Robert "failed to establish any credible issue with respect to the right of [Barbara] to pursue collection of the judgment." It further found Robert "failed to show that Paragon... possesses any information material to the issues raised by [Barbara's] collection efforts." The court issued a signed order on September 24, 2009, and denied Robert's motion for reconsideration. Robert filed a timely appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21(A)(1) and -2101(B) (2010).

II. DISCUSSION

1. Timeliness of renewal

¶ 9 Robert contends Barbara's affidavits of renewal of the judgment filed in May 2002 and April 2007 were untimely under Arizona law. Because this issue requires statutory interpretation, we apply a de novo standard of review. City of Tucson v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc., 218 Ariz. 172, 178, ¶ 5, 181 P.3d 219, 225 (App.2008).

A. Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act

¶ 10 Arizona has adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA), A.R.S. §§ 12-1701 to -1708 (2010), which enables judgment creditors from sister states to "obtain a valid Arizona judgment."[2]C & J Travel, Inc. v. Shumway, 161 Ariz. 33, 35, 775 P.2d 1097, 1099 (App.1989). Specifically, § 12-1702 provides as follows:

A copy of any foreign judgment authenticated in accordance with the act of Congress or the statutes of this state may be filed in the office of the clerk of any superior court of this state. The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of the superior court of this state. A judgment so filed has the same effect and is subject to the same procedures, defenses and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or staying as a judgment of a superior court of this state and may be enforced or satisfied in like manner.

¶ 11 The UEFJA does not create substantive rights, but rather creates "procedures for enforcing rights conferred by the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution." Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Phifer, 181 Ariz. 5, 6, 887 P.2d 5, 6 (App.1994). In Citibank,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
242 P.3d 1060, 225 Ariz. 591, 596 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 12, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cristall-v-cristall-arizctapp-2010.