West v. Division of Child Support/ Tabetha Lewis

• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware
• Decided: December 20, 2023
• Docket: 446, 2023
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

DALLAS WEST,1 § § Petitioner Below, § No. 446, 2023 Appellant, § § Court Below—Family Court v. § of the State of Delaware § DIVISION OF CHILD SUPPORT § File No. CN05-02715 SERVICES/TABETHA LEWIS, § Petition No. 23-13946 § Respondent Below, § Appellee. §

Submitted: December 18, 2023 Decided: December 20, 2023

Before TRAYNOR, LEGROW, and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

ORDER

(1) The appellant filed this appeal from a child support order. The order,

originally issued October 31, 2023, and amended November 13, 2023, was entered

by a Family Court commissioner.

(2) The Senior Court Clerk issued a notice directing the appellant to show

cause why this appeal should not be dismissed because this Court lacks jurisdiction

to consider an appeal from a decision of a Family Court commissioner. In response

to the notice, the appellant argues the merits of the appeal but does not address the

Court’s lack of jurisdiction.

1 The Court previously assigned pseudonyms to the parties under Supreme Court Rule 7(d). (3) This Court’s appellate jurisdiction over civil proceedings in the Family

Court is limited to decisions issued by the judges of the Family Court. 2 Under 10

Del. C. § 915(d) and Family Court Civil Rule 53.1(a), a party’s right to appeal from

a commissioner’s order is to a judge of the Family Court.3 An order issued by a

commissioner is not a final judgment for purposes of appeal to this Court. 4 This

Court therefore lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal, and the appeal must be

dismissed.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, under Supreme Court Rule 29(b),

that the appeal is DISMISSED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Abigail M. LeGrow Justice

2 Wilson v. Div. of Child Support Servs., 2021 WL 5028375 (Del. Oct. 28, 2021). 3 Id. 4 Id. (citing Redden v. McGill, 549 A.2d 695 (Del. 1988)).