Miller v. Miller

• Decision Date: 24 December 2020
• Docket Number: No. 20190748-CA,20190748-CA
• Citation: 480 P.3d 341
• Parties: Ryan MILLER, Appellant, v. Brenda MILLER, Appellee.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

480 P.3d 341

Ryan MILLER, Appellant,

v.Brenda MILLER, Appellee.

No. 20190748-CA

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Filed December 24, 2020

Jonathan Hibshman, Marco Brown, Salt Lake City, and Rodney R. Parker, Salt Lake City, Attorneys for Appellant

Dustin D. Gibb, Attorney for Appellee

Judge Kate Appleby authored this Opinion, in which Judges Jill M. Pohlman and Diana Hagen concurred.

Opinion

APPLEBY, Judge:

¶1 Ryan Miller appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition to modify the parties’ divorce decree. Ryan's¹ petition asked that he be appointed the primary custodial parent of the parties’ children. The district court dismissed the petition for failure to state a claim under rule 12(b)(6) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and, alternatively, for the parties’ failure to engage in a dispute resolution procedure before seeking court intervention. On appeal, Ryan contends the court applied the wrong standards for dismissal under rule 12(b)(6) and for determining whether a change of circumstances justified modifying the divorce decree. He also challenges the court's dismissal of his petition based on his failure to use a dispute resolution procedure before filing the petition. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Ryan and Brenda divorced in June 2014. The divorce decree incorporated, and was based on, the parties’ stipulation and property settlement agreement. The parties stipulated, and the court decreed, that they would have joint legal and physical custody of their children, with Brenda as the "primary physical custodial parent" and the children attending school based on her residence. The parties’ stipulation and the decree also separately provided parent-time for Ryan.

¶3 Additionally, the parties stipulated to a parenting plan. As relevant here, the plan expressed an overarching preference for resolving co-parenting disputes between them, using "experts to assist them" in doing so "when they are unable to resolve conflict themselves" and to "solve problems and make joint decisions by working through [the] decision-making procedure" included in the plan. It also expressed the parties’ agreement to make "major decisions" regarding the children together and to use a mediator before seeking a resolution in court when, "after following the joint decision-making procedure and implementing the governing principles," the parties were unable to "reach a consensus."

¶4 In May 2019, Ryan filed a petition to modify the divorce decree (the Petition). He contended it was in the children's best interest that he be awarded "primary custody" of them, "with Brenda enjoying parent-time pursuant to Utah Code Annotated, Section 30-3-35.1."² Ryan asserted there had been "substantial and material changes in circumstances that were unforeseeable" at the time the decree was entered, and he made twelve allegations in support.

¶5 Specifically, Ryan alleged: (1) "Brenda does not communicate with Ryan regarding [the children] and their needs"; (2) Ryan was "not informed" when one of the children "suffered a concussion" or about the associated "activity restrictions"; (3) "Brenda has refused to allow [the children] to attend significant events in Ryan's and [the children's] lives"; (4) Ryan and his current spouse have a two-year-old child "with whom [the children] are bonded and with whom they desire to spend more time," and Ryan's current spouse works from home and is able to care for the children; (5) "Ryan's job and work hours have stabilized" since the decree was entered, "giving him predictability in when he is at home and able to spend time" with the children; (6) during Ryan's Thursday overnight parent-time, he "spends much of the time ... doing homework" with the children, "which has accumulated throughout the week" while the children were with Brenda; (7) "Brenda does not give [the children] their medication"; (8) the children "have been neglected in their personal hygiene and appearance"; (9) Brenda allows the children "constant screen time"; (10) Brenda is cohabiting with someone who is "forcing [the children] into a vegan lifestyle, resulting in malnourishment," and who has warrants out for his arrest; (11) the children have asked "Ryan if they can spend more time with him"; and (12) "Brenda has an established pattern of neglecting" the children.

¶6 Brenda filed a motion to dismiss the Petition pursuant to rule 12(b)(6) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides that a party may move for dismissal of a complaint for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Brenda contended Ryan's allegations "fail[ed] to meet the high burden required for a change of custody" because none of them, "even if true, constitute[d] a material and substantial change in circumstances." Therefore, Ryan had "failed to state a claim upon which the relief he seeks, a change of custody, could possibly be granted."³ Brenda did not argue that the Petition should be dismissed for the additional reason that Ryan had failed to use dispute resolution procedures in relation to his request to modify custody.

¶7 After an evidentiary hearing, the district court dismissed the Petition on two independent grounds. First, the court agreed with Brenda that the Petition failed to state a claim under rule 12(b)(6) for modification of custody. It addressed each of the changed-circumstances allegations and determined most of them "could support some change." But it determined many of the allegations were entitled to "little weight" as part of its "substantial and material change in circumstances analysis." Ultimately, the court concluded that the allegations, taken "as a whole," "as true," and "in the light most favorable to [Ryan]" "do not amount to an allegation that there has been a material and substantial change in the circumstances of the parties and their children that would justify the change requested." On this basis, the court concluded Ryan failed to state a claim upon which the custody modification could be granted and dismissed the Petition.

¶8 Second, as an alternative ground for dismissal, the court determined Utah Code section 30-3-10.4(1)(c)⁴ "means what it says" regarding the use of dispute resolution procedures to resolve disputes related to the modification of custody. During the hearing on Brenda's motion, the court sua sponte raised the issue of whether the parties had attempted to use a dispute resolution procedure, and the court determined they had not. Because Ryan "admitted through counsel that he has not sought" to engage in such procedures, the court determined the Petition was additionally dismissed "for failure to properly use alternative dispute resolution procedures."

¶9 Ryan timely appeals.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶10 Ryan appeals the Petition's dismissal under rule 12(b)(6) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. "We review a decision granting a motion to dismiss for correctness, granting no deference to the decision of the district court." Fehr v. Stockton , 2018 UT App 136, ¶ 8, 427 P.3d 1190 (quotation simplified). "We likewise review the district court's subsidiary legal determinations for correctness." Id .⁵

¶11 Ryan also challenges the court's dismissal of the Petition for failure to use dispute resolution procedures, contending the court erred by sua sponte determining that his failure to use dispute resolution procedures justified dismissal of the Petition. While district courts generally have inherent authority and discretion regarding the "manage[ment of] their own affairs so as to achieve the orderly and expeditious disposition of cases," see PDC Consulting, Inc. v. Porter , 2008 UT App 372, ¶ 14, 196 P.3d 626 (quotation simplified), to the extent this issue implicates the process afforded to Ryan, it is a legal question we consider under a correctness standard, see Brigham Young Univ. v. Tremco Consultants, Inc. , 2007 UT 17, ¶ 25, 156 P.3d 782.

ANALYSIS

¶12 The district court dismissed the Petition for failure to state a claim under rule 12(b)(6) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Ryan contends the court misapplied the dismissal standard under, and exceeded the scope of, the rule. He argues the court improperly "established facts" and "proceeded to the merits of [his] claims in reviewing his allegations of changed circumstances." Relatedly, Ryan contends the court erred by applying an incorrect standard for a petition to modify a divorce decree. Characterizing the Petition as requesting only a change in parent-time rather than a change of custody, he argues the court erred by applying the heightened changed-circumstances standard applicable to custody change requests.

¶13 Ryan also argues the district court erred by granting the motion to dismiss on the alternative ground that he had not utilized dispute resolution procedures in seeking modification of the decree.

¶14 We address each issue below, ultimately concluding the court erred in granting Brenda's motion for dismissal under rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim and in sua sponte dismissing the Petition due to the parties’ failure to engage in dispute resolution procedures.

I. Dismissal for Failure to State a Claim

A. Applicable Principles

¶15 "A complaint states a claim upon which relief can be granted if it alleges the facts and sets forth the legal basis for an available legal remedy." Simmons Media Group, LLC v. Waykar, LLC , 2014 UT App 145, ¶ 15, 335 P.3d 885 (quotation simplified). "A rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss admits the facts alleged in the complaint but challenges the plaintiff's right to relief based on those facts." Blanch v. Farrell , 2018 UT App 172, ¶ 14, 436 P.3d 285 (quotation simplified). Our review of a rule 12(b)(6) dismissal is "concerned solely with the sufficiency of the pleadings, and not the underlying merits of the case." Fehr v. Stockton , 2018 UT App 136, ¶ 8, 427 P.3d 1190 (quotation simplified); see also Capri Sunshine, LLC v. E & C Fox Invs., LLC , 2015 UT App 231, ¶ 11, 366 P.3d...