Lilly v. Lilly

2011 UT App 53, 250 P.3d 994, 676 Utah Adv. Rep. 17, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 56, 2011 WL 669230
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedFebruary 25, 2011
Docket20090933-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2011 UT App 53 (Lilly v. Lilly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lilly v. Lilly, 2011 UT App 53, 250 P.3d 994, 676 Utah Adv. Rep. 17, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 56, 2011 WL 669230 (Utah Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

ROTH, Judge:

{1 Aaron M. Lilly, who physically resides in California due to his active duty service in the military but claims legal residence in Utah, appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition to modify a child support order that was originally issued in California as part of a California divorce decree. In dismissing the petition to modify, the district court concluded that under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, see Utah Code Ann. §§ 78B-14-205, -618 (2008) (setting forth the relevant provisions regarding jurisdiction to modify a child support order), 1 subject matter jurisdiction to modify a child support order is determined by a person's physical residence rather than that person's domicile or legal residence. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

12 Aaron M. Lilly (Father) is an active duty member of the United States Marine Corps. He is currently stationed in California. Father was born and raised in Utah and graduated from high school in Utah. His home of record 2 is Utah as he was a Utah resident when he enlisted in the Marines in 1994. Father claims that he has maintained his Utah domicile since his enlistment in the Marines by paying Utah taxes, registering to vote in Utah, having a Utah driver license, listing his home state as Utah, and declaring his intent to return to Utah when he is released from military service.

T3 In 2001, Father married Korilee Lilly (Mother). One child (Child) was born during the marriage. In April 2005, Mother attempted to file for divorce in Utah but could not because, at that time, she resided in California with Father and Child. Mother then filed for divorce in California, which was finalized in December 2006. The divorce decree included an order that Father pay Mother child support in the amount of $1000 every month. -In June 2005-after filing for divorce but before the divorcee was finalized-Mother and Child moved to Utah. Mother and Child have resided in Utah ever since.

1 4 In November 2007, Father filed a petition in Utah to modify the child support order to take into account Mother's increased income from employment she obtained after moving to Utah. In support of his petition, Father asserted that Utah has jurisdiction to modify the child support order because Utah is the resident state of Father, Mother, and Child. In September 2008, a commissioner recommended that Father's petition be de *997 nied. Father filed a timely objection, and in October 2008, the district court upheld the commissioner's recommendation and denied Father's petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The district court concluded that Utah's jurisdiction to modify a child support order is determined by where "a parent physically lives" and reasoned that because "[Father] ... physically lives in California," California has jurisdiction to modify the child support order, and Utah "lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to modify [the] child support [order]." The district court based its decision on the fact that Father physically resides in California and made no findings regarding whether Utah is Father's domicile.

15 While Father's petition to modify was pending in Utah, Mother filed her own petition in California to modify the child support order. In December 2007-before any decision had been reached on Father's Utah petition to modify-the California court dismissed Mother's petition, essentially deferring the issue of which state had jurisdiction to the earlier-filled Utah petition, but explained that "[if Utah refuses to exert jurisdiction over the issue, ... either party may file a motion requesting modification of child support to be heard before this court." Before the Utah court had acted on the matter, however, Mother renewed her petition in California; and in September 2008-after the Utah commissioner recommended denial of Father's petition but before the district court acted on Father's objection-the California court granted Mother's petition to modify the child support order, raising Father's monthly obligation from $1000 to $1225. Father now appeals the district court's determination that Utah lacks subject matter jurisdiction to modify the child support order. 3

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

T6 This appeal presents two related issues for our review. First, Father challenges the district court's denial of his petition, arguing that Utah, and not California, has subject matter jurisdiction to modify the child support order because Utah is the resident state of Father, Mother, and Child. Father supports his position by arguing that Utah's subject matter jurisdiction to modify a child support order is based on a person's domicile or legal residence rather than physical residence. "Whether a [district] court has subject matter jurisdiction [to modify a child support order] presents a question of law which we review under a correction of error standard, giving no particular deference to the [district] court's determination.'' Case v. Case, 2004 UT App 423, ¶ 5, 103 P.3d 171 (internal quotation marks omitted). See-ond, Mother argues that this court must give full faith and eredit to California's modified child support order. Whether a sister state's judgment must be given full faith and credit presents a question of law. See In re Estate of Jones, 858 P.2d 983, 985 (Utah 1993). Further, resolution of both of these issues requires statutory interpretation, which is a question of law, reviewed for correctness. See State v. Yazzie, 2009 UT 14, ¶ 6, 203 P.3d 984 ("[Sltatutory interpretation ... [is] review[ed] for correctness, affording no deference to a lower court's legal conclusions.").

ANALYSIS

17 All the issues here involve the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). UIFSA governs "the establishment, enforcement, [and] modification of support orders across state lines," and has been enacted in every state "to further national uniformity in the enforcement of child support orders.'' Case, 2004 UT App 423, ¶¶ 7-8, 103 P.3d 171 (internal quotation marks omitted). The purpose of UIFSA is "to recognize that only one valid support order may be effective at any one time." Id. 18 (internal quotation marks omitted).

18 Two particular provisions of UIFSA are relevant to our analysis, both of which govern when a state has subject matter jurisdiction to modify a child support order. These provisions as adopted in Utah and California are virtually identical. Compare Utah Code Ann. § 78B-14-205(1)(a) (2008), with Cal. Fam.Code § 4909(a)(1) (Deering *998 2010); 4 and compare Utah Code Ann. § 78B-14-613(1), with Cal. Fam.Code § 4962(a).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 UT App 53, 250 P.3d 994, 676 Utah Adv. Rep. 17, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 56, 2011 WL 669230, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lilly-v-lilly-utahctapp-2011.