Miss. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Porter

• Decision Date: 27 June 2017
• Docket Number: NO. 2016–CA–00383–COA,2016–CA–00383–COA
• Citation: 237 So.3d 799
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Appellant v. Ben PORTER, Appellee
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

237 So.3d 799

MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Appellant

v.Ben PORTER, Appellee

NO. 2016–CA–00383–COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

June 27, 2017

Rehearing Denied October 31, 2017

Certiorari Denied February 15, 2018

LEWIS CLARK HUNTER DEANNA LYNNE GRAVES, ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT.

PAUL ANDERSON KOERBER, ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE.

BEFORE IRVING, P.J., BARNES, CARLTON AND WESTBROOKS, JJ.

BARNES, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. The Jefferson County Chancery Court found that Ben Porter, a Mississippi resident, was not obligated to pay child support for his daughter, an Illinois resident, because she had reached the age of majority under Illinois law. However, under the choice-of-law provisions of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), Mississippi law applies to this child-support action, as the Mississippi court was the first court to issue a support order. At the time this action was commenced, Porter's daughter was twenty years old—a minor under Mississippi law. Because the chancellor erred in applying Illinois's age of majority (nineteen) rather than applicable Mississippi law, we reverse and remand for the imposition of Mississippi law.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. S.M.¹ was born in April 1995 to Gail Morris in Chicago, Illinois. No father is named on S.M.'s birth certificate. In October 1995, the State of Illinois brought a paternity action to establish Porter as S.M.'s father. Due to inactivity in the case and other deficiencies, the case was dismissed on April 5, 2006. Sometime prior to December 2011, Porter moved to Jefferson County, Mississippi. Morris and S.M. remained in Chicago.

¶ 3. In December 2011, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS) requested the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) to petition the Jefferson County Chancery Court to establish paternity of S.M. IDHFS requested that MDHS seek an order of ongoing child support and retroactive support. Porter submitted to genetic testing, which indicated a greater than 99.9% probability that Porter was S.M.'s father.

¶ 4. On April 17, 2012, MDHS filed a petition for child support in the Jefferson County Chancery Court. A Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 81 summons and a complaint were served on Porter on April 30, 2012. Porter filed his answer and defenses on June 11, 2012. A hearing was initially scheduled for June 26, 2012, but was continued multiple times. On the scheduled October 23, 2012 hearing date, Porter's attorney moved to withdraw as counsel. The motion was granted, but no continuance was ordered. Process was lost. See M.R.C.P. 81(d)(5).

¶ 5. MDHS refiled its complaint on April 6, 2015. A Rule 81 summons was issued for Porter to appear on June 23, 2015. Porter appeared on that date, and a judgment of paternity was entered. The June 23, 2015 judgment ordered Porter to pay $252 per month in child support until S.M. turned twenty-one—a total of ten months of child support—unless S.M. was emancipated before turning twenty-one. Specifically, the judgment states: "The Defendant is required to pay $252.00 beginning 7/1/2015 for the support of the minor child, and shall continue each month thereafter until the child reaches the age of 21, marries, or otherwise becomes emancipated." Porter moved to set aside the judgment, arguing that Illinois's age of majority (nineteen) applied, rather than Mississippi's age of majority (twenty-one), and that he had no obligation to support S.M. since she was no longer a minor under Illinois law. After a hearing, the chancellor agreed that Illinois's age of majority applied. On February 29, 2016, the chancellor ordered that the June 23, 2015 child-support order be set aside. Porter was not ordered to pay any support.

¶ 6. MDHS appeals, arguing that under the choice-of-law provisions of the UIFSA, the chancellor was required to apply Mississippi law, including Mississippi's twenty-one-year age of majority. Porter asserts the Jefferson County Chancery Court lacked jurisdiction over this matter entirely, and, alternatively, that the chancellor's decision applying Illinois's age of majority was correct.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether the chancery court had subject-matter jurisdiction.

¶ 7. While Porter alternatively argues that the chancellor's decision should be affirmed, he first asserts the chancellor lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over MDHS's complaint. As Porter's argument regarding lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, if correct, would be dispositive of this appeal, we address it first.

¶ 8. "Jurisdiction is a question of law, which [we] review de novo." Derr Plantation Inc. v. Swarek , 14 So.3d 711, 715 (¶ 8) (Miss. 2009). "[T]he factual findings underpinning the jurisdiction question are reviewed under the familiar substantial-evidence and abuse-of-discretion standards." Hamilton v. Young , 213 So.3d 69, 74 (¶ 11) (Miss. 2017). "A state court's assertion of jurisdiction exposes defendants to the State's coercive power, and is therefore subject to review for compatibility with the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause." Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations S.A. v. Brown , 564 U.S. 915, 918, 131 S.Ct. 2846, 180 L.Ed.2d 796 (2011) (citing Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington , 326 U.S. 310, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945) ). Personal jurisdiction is not disputed, as Porter lived in Jefferson County and was served with process there. Int'l Shoe , 326 U.S. at 316, 66 S.Ct. 154. Rather, Porter challenges the chancery court's subject-matter jurisdiction. The issue of subject-matter jurisdiction can be raised at any time in the proceedings, even on appeal. Pierce v. Pierce , 132 So.3d 553, 560 (¶ 14) (Miss. 2014).

¶ 9. "To determine whether a court has subject[-]matter jurisdiction, we look to the face of the complaint, examining the nature of the controversy and the relief sought." Ram–Kabir of America LLC v. S.C. Anderson Grp. Int'l , 199 So.3d 1240, 1241 (¶ 4) (Miss. 2016) (quoting RAS Family Partners v. Onnam Biloxi LLC , 968 So.2d 926, 928 (¶ 11) (Miss. 2007) ). "Jurisdiction is decided based on the existing facts at the time the action is commenced." Id. (quoting Bronk v. Hobson , 152 So.3d 1130, 1132 (¶ 3) (Miss. 2014) ).

¶ 10. When parties to a child-support action reside in different states, the jurisdictional provisions of UIFSA control.² Deborah H. Bell, Bell on Mississippi Family Law § 18.08 (2005). Both Mississippi and Illinois have adopted substantively identical forms of UIFSA. See Miss. Code Ann. §§ 93–25–101 to –903 (Supp. 2016);³ 750 Ill. Comp. Stat. 22/100 – 22/999. "The purpose of the UIFSA is to unify state laws governing the establishment, enforcement, and modification of child[-]support orders." Gowdey v. Gowdey , 825 So.2d 67, 70 (¶ 11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002) (citing 23 Am. Jur. 2d Desertion & Nonsupport § 73 (2002) ). "The UIFSA does not create a duty of support; it does, however, provide the procedural framework for enforcing one state's support order in another jurisdiction." Id. (citing Thrift v. Thrift , 760 So.2d 732 (¶ 15) (Miss. 2000) ). It "was created to ensure the uniformity of decisions concerning the issue of child support." Id.

¶ 11. UIFSA's purpose is explained in Bell on Mississippi Family Law , section 18.08, as follows:

[UIFSA] provides jurisdictional and procedural rules governing actions to recover spousal or child support. These rules apply whether support is sought in a suit for divorce, an independent action for child support, or a paternity action. The Act governs initial orders for support as well as petitions to modify support. UIFSA was designed to facilitate interstate establishment and enforcement of support and paternity orders. The Act creates a two-state procedure that allows a petitioner to proceed in another state by filing a petition in his or her home state. In addition, the Act sets out the procedure for registering an order in another state. To reduce interstate conflicts over modification jurisdiction, the Act creates a uniform system for modification, recognizing continuing exclusive jurisdiction in the issuing court while any party or child remains in the issuing state.

¶ 12. In applying UIFSA's provisions to this matter, we must first understand certain terms defined by its provisions. First, a "tribunal" under UIFSA is "a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child." Miss. Code Ann. § 93–25–102(29). "The chancery courts, circuit and county courts, and tribal courts are the tribunals of this state." Miss. Code Ann. § 93–25–103(a). The "responding tribunal" is "the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country." Miss. Code Ann. § 93–25–102(24). The "responding state" is the "state in which a complaint or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is filed or to which a complaint or comparable pleading is forwarded for filing from another state or foreign country." Miss. Code Ann. § 93–25–102(23). The "issuing tribunal" is "the tribunal of a state or foreign country that issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child." Miss. Code Ann. § 93–25–102(14). Here, IDHFS, Division of Child Support, contacted MDHS and requested that it file a complaint against Porter. Thus, Mississippi is the responding state, and the responding tribunal is the Jefferson County Chancery Court. The Jefferson County Chancery Court is also the issuing tribunal, as it was the first to issue a support order or determination of paternity.

¶ 13. With the understanding that Mississippi is the responding state and the Jefferson County Chancery Court is the responding tribunal, we look to section 93–25–303 to determine whether the Jefferson County Chancery Court had subject-matter jurisdiction. Section 93–25–303 states that the "responding tribunal" has the authority to "exercise all powers and provide all remedies available" and "[d]etermine the duty of support and the amount payable[.]"...