Fox v. Arthur

714 N.E.2d 305, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 1211, 1999 WL 521842
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 23, 1999
Docket28A01-9809-CV-339
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 714 N.E.2d 305 (Fox v. Arthur) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fox v. Arthur, 714 N.E.2d 305, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 1211, 1999 WL 521842 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Petitioner Jeanne M. Fox (Fox), together with her parents Gretchen Lehman and Arnold “Bill” Lehman (Lehman), inter-venors below, (collectively referred to as Appellants), appeal from the trial court’s entry granting Ernest M. Arthur (Arthur), Fox’s former husband, sole custody of J.A., Fox and Arthur’s minor child, in a dissolution case consolidated with a Child in Need of Services (CHINS) proceeding.

We reverse and remand with instructions.

ISSUE

Appellants raise three issues on review, one of which we find dispositive:1 whether the trial court had jurisdiction to decide a post-dissolution petition for modification of child custody concurrently with a CHINS adjudication.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 10, 1989, the Sullivan Circuit Court ordered Arthur and Fox’s marriage dissolved. Fox was awarded sole custody of J.A. and Arthur was given visitation rights. On or about January 22, 1996, The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney in Greene County petitioned the Sullivan Court for a transfer of the post-dissolution proceedings to Greene County. On or about February 23, 1996, the Greene County Office of Family and Children filed a petition in the Greene County Juvenile Court alleging J.A. to be a CHINS because she was being sexually abused by Fox’s new husband. J.A. was removed from Fox’s custody and placed in foster care with the Lehmans.

On or about March 21, 1996, Arthur filed a petition in the Sullivan Circuit Court to modify the custody and visitation arrangement. On April 9, 1996, the Greene Circuit Court [307]*307granted the motion on Fox’s behalf to transfer the dissolution action to the Greene Circuit Court. On May 22, 1996, Arthur filed a motion, pursuant to Ind.Trial Rule 42, in the Greene Circuit Court, to consolidate the CHINS proceeding with the post-dissolution proceeding which had already been transferred from the Sullivan Circuit Court. On July 19, 1996, the Greene Circuit Court granted the motion to consolidate and set all pending matters for hearing.

On December 19,1997, a hearing was held in the Greene Circuit Court on Arthur’s petition to modify custody and the disposition of the CHINS case. On June 2,1998, the court entered an order granting Arthur’s petition to modify custody and awarded him sole custody of J.A. Further, the court found the order to “be effective immediately upon the dismissal of the CHINS case, which has been consolidated with the dissolution action.” (R.1271). Finally, the court ordered Fox to pay the sum of $9,387.00 in attorney fees incurred by Arthur, which sum was to be applied as a credit toward the judgment against Arthur held by Fox. Also, the Leh-mans were ordered to pay reasonable attorney fees to Arthur in the sum of $2,500.00.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Appellants argue that the trial court’s entry is wholly void because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition to modify child custody while the CHINS case was pending. Specifically, Appellants contend that the initiation of a CHINS proceeding vested exclusive jurisdiction in the Greene County Juvenile Court, thereby precluding the Greene County Circuit Court from deciding post-dissolution matters until the CHINS proceeding was concluded. We agree.

Ind.Code § 31-30-1-1 delineates the jurisdiction of juvenile courts:

A juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction ... in the following:
* * * * *
(2) Proceedings in which a child, including a child of divorced parents, is alleged to be a child in need of sendees under IND. CODE 31-34.

Ind.Code § 31-30-1-1(2). Further, Ind.Code § 31-30-2-1 provides for the continuing jurisdiction of juvenile courts:

[T]he juvenile court’s jurisdiction over ... a child in need of services and over the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian continues until:
(1) the child becomes twenty-one (21) years of age, unless the court discharges the child and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian at an earlier time ...

Ind.Code § 31-30-2-1(a)(1).

General jurisdiction over child custody matters rests with the court in which jurisdiction is vested for dissolution matters. Hemingway v. Sandoe, 676 N.E.2d 368, 372 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). However, the commencement of a CHINS proceeding vests exclusive jurisdiction in the juvenile court, and no other Indiana court has jurisdiction to entertain any proceedings which conflict with that exclusive jurisdiction. See P.B. v. T.D., 504 N.E.2d 1042, 1043 (Ind.Ct.App.1987) (while a valid CHINS proceeding is pending in Circuit Court exercising juvenile jurisdiction, the Superior Court may not, inconsistent with the custody established in the CHINS proceeding, modify the custody conferred by a Superior Court dissolution decree), modified on rehearing on other grounds, 507 N.E.2d 992 (Ind.Ct.App.1987), trans. denied; Matter of Guardianship of Bramblett, 495 N.E.2d 798, 799 (Ind.Ct.App.1986). As this court has recognized, custody determinations are collateral to the juvenile court’s jurisdiction, and during the pendency of a CHINS proceeding, the juvenile court has exclusive jurisdiction over custody decisions until the parties are either discharged or the juvenile court transfers the cause. Alexander v. Cole, 697 N.E.2d 80, 82 (Ind.Ct.App.1998). Nevertheless, because juvenile courts have no jurisdiction in dissolution proceedings, accordingly, they have no jurisdiction over the custody of a child other than pursuant to a CHINS proceeding. Hemingway, 676 N.E.2d at 372.

In the present case, the undisputed and dispositive facts are that prior to Arthur’s petition to modify custody in the Sullivan Circuit Court and prior to the transfer and consolidation order of the dissolution action in the Greene Circuit Court, a CHINS peti[308]*308tion was filed in the Greene County Juvenile Court. The juvenile court, pursuant to its exclusive jurisdiction to decide such matters, entered a dispositional order removing J.A. from Fox’s custody and placing her with the Lehman’s. Once the CHINS petition was filed, the Greene County Juvenile Court was vested with exclusive jurisdiction over custody determinations, and no other Indiana court had jurisdiction to entertain any proceedings which conflicted with that exclusive jurisdiction.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Reynolds v. Dewees
797 N.E.2d 798 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)
Alexander v. Foy
766 N.E.2d 718 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)
In Re Paternity of RAF
766 N.E.2d 718 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)
In Re Adoption of EB
733 N.E.2d 4 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
Bond v. Bracey
733 N.E.2d 4 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
Fox v. Arthur
714 N.E.2d 305 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 N.E.2d 305, 1999 Ind. App. LEXIS 1211, 1999 WL 521842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fox-v-arthur-indctapp-1999.