Shirley Walleser v. Kevin Walleser

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 29, 2023
Docket2022AP000971
StatusUnpublished

This text of Shirley Walleser v. Kevin Walleser (Shirley Walleser v. Kevin Walleser) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shirley Walleser v. Kevin Walleser, (Wis. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. June 29, 2023 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2022AP971 Cir. Ct. No. 2021CV18

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT IV

SHIRLEY WALLESER,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

KEVIN WALLESER AND DR. ANNE MARIE E. ELWING,

DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

APPEAL from a judgment of the circuit court for Vernon County: WILLIAM ANDREW SHARP, Judge. Reversed and cause remanded with directions.

Before Blanchard, P.J., Kloppenburg, and Fitzpatrick, JJ. No. 2022AP971

¶1 KLOPPENBURG, J. Shirley Walleser filed a complaint in the circuit court against Kevin Walleser and Dr. Anne Marie Elwing, who own property that is adjacent to property owned by Shirley.1 The complaint alleges that, in 2002, Shirley built structures that are partially on property owned by Shirley and partially on property owned by Kevin and Anne Marie, and that Shirley has since accessed those structures via a driveway that is also partially on her property and partially on Kevin and Anne Marie’s property. The complaint requests that the circuit court order Kevin and Anne Marie to sell to Shirley the portion of their property on which parts of the structures and driveway are located. Kevin and Anne Marie did not answer the complaint within twenty days and Shirley subsequently filed a motion for default judgment. After receiving notice of the default, Kevin and Anne Marie filed a motion to enlarge the time to answer the complaint, an answer with affirmative defenses and a counterclaim, and a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim.

¶2 The circuit court denied Kevin and Anne Marie’s motion to enlarge the time to answer the complaint and denied their motion to dismiss the complaint. The court also granted Shirley’s motion for default judgment and ordered Kevin and Anne Marie to sell the property at issue to Shirley, as requested in the complaint. The court subsequently denied Kevin and Anne Marie’s motion for reconsideration, which asserted that the complaint fails to join a necessary party. Kevin and Anne Marie appeal, arguing that the court erred in multiple respects.

1 For ease of reading, we refer to the parties and family members by their first names because some of them share the same last name.

2 No. 2022AP971

¶3 We deem dispositive Kevin and Anne Marie’s argument that the complaint fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted. Because we agree that the complaint fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted, we conclude that, under controlling case law, the circuit court erroneously granted Shirley’s motion for default judgment and, accordingly, we reverse the default judgment and remand to the circuit court to dismiss the complaint.2

BACKGROUND

¶4 Shirley filed her complaint against Kevin and Anne Marie in Vernon County circuit court on February 19, 2021. In the complaint Shirley alleged that, in 2002, Shirley built structures partially on property owned by her and partially on property owned by Kevin and Anne Marie, and that she accesses the structures via a driveway that is located on property owned partially by her and partially by Kevin and Anne Marie. Shirley sought relief in the form of an order directing that

2 We reverse the circuit court order denying the motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim and, based on the record in this case to date, direct that the court dismiss the complaint on that basis. We take no position regarding potential motions from the parties that might be filed following remand on issues that we do not address in this opinion and that might relate to the dismissal of the complaint.

Separately, we note that Kevin and Anne Marie also argue that the circuit court: (1) erroneously exercised its discretion in denying their motion to enlarge the time for them to answer the complaint; (2) erred in ordering the conveyance of their property both as a matter of law and because Shirley has “unclean hands”; and (3) erroneously exercised its discretion in denying their motion for reconsideration, in which they asserted that the complaint fails to join an indispensable party. Our conclusion that the complaint fails to state a claim and, therefore, that the default judgment entered by the court cannot stand and the complaint must be dismissed, renders Kevin and Anne Marie’s additional arguments moot.

“An issue is moot when its resolution will have no practical effect on the underlying controversy.” State ex rel. Olson v. Litscher, 2000 WI App 61, ¶3, 233 Wis. 2d 685, 608 N.W.2d 425. “In other words, a moot question is one which circumstances have rendered purely academic.” Id. “Generally, moot issues will not be considered by an appellate court.” Id. Accordingly, we do not consider Kevin and Anne Marie’s additional arguments.

3 No. 2022AP971

Kevin and Anne Marie sell to her, “at a price that is fair and reasonable, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances,” the portions of Kevin and Anne Marie’s property on which parts of the structures and driveway are located.

¶5 A deputy with the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office personally served Kevin and Anne Marie with the summons and complaint on February 24, 2021. On April 9, 2021, after the statutory period to file an answer had elapsed,3 Shirley filed a motion for default judgment and provided notice of the motion to Kevin and Anne Marie. On April 13, 2021, Kevin and Anne Marie filed an answer with affirmative defenses and a counterclaim, and a “Motion for Continuance of Default Judgment.”

¶6 In September 2021, Kevin and Anne Marie filed a motion to dismiss the complaint under WIS. STAT. § 802.06 for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted. At the same time, Kevin and Anne Marie also filed a motion to retroactively enlarge the time to answer the complaint from April 10, 2021, to April 13, 2021, under WIS. STAT. § 801.15(2), based on “excusable neglect as set forth in the accompanying affidavit.” In the accompanying affidavit, Kevin averred that after he was served with the summons and complaint, he set it aside in his shop at the farm and then, for the next three to four weeks, worked many hours to prepare for the upcoming spring planting season and calving beef cows. He averred that, upon receipt of the motion for default judgment, he immediately contacted and met with an attorney.

3 See WIS. STAT. § 802.06(1)(a) (2021-22) (as pertinent in this case, providing that “a defendant shall serve an answer within 20 days after the service of the complaint upon the defendant”). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2021-22 version unless otherwise noted.

4 No. 2022AP971

¶7 In December 2021, the circuit court held a motions hearing and, in a subsequent written order, denied the motion to enlarge the time to answer and rejected the answer, affirmative defenses, and counterclaim submitted by Kevin and Anne Marie. The court also denied Kevin and Anne Marie’s motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, which is the ruling that we reverse in this appeal, for reasons explained below. In the same order, the court granted Shirley’s motion for default judgment and scheduled a hearing to determine which specific property Kevin and Anne Marie would be required to convey to Shirley and the compensation to be paid by Shirley for that property.

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Bluebook (online)
Shirley Walleser v. Kevin Walleser, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shirley-walleser-v-kevin-walleser-wisctapp-2023.