Price v. Price

• Decision Date: 28 October 1982
• Docket Number: CA-CIV,No. 1,1
• Citation: 654 P.2d 46,134 Ariz. 112
• Parties: In re the Marriage of Patsy Ann PRICE, Petitioner-Appellee, v. James Curtis PRICE, Respondent-Appellant. 5791.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

Page 46

654 P.2d 46

134 Ariz. 112

In re the Marriage of Patsy Ann PRICE, Petitioner-Appellee, v.James Curtis PRICE, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CIV 5791.

Court of Appeals of Arizona Division 1, Department D.

Oct. 28, 1982.

Fenton J. McDonough, Scottsdale, for appellant.

Duecy, Moore, Robinson & Bennett by Lewis B. Moore, Jr., Scottsdale, for appellee.

OPINION

MEYERSON, Judge.

In this appeal from an order denying a motion to set aside a foreign judgment, we must decide whether a Kentucky divorce decree fixing property rights is entitled to full faith and credit against a conflicting Arizona divorce decree obtained by constructive service.Because the resolution of this question is squarely and dispositively controlled by Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. 541, 68 S.Ct. 1213, 92 L.Ed. 1561(1948), we award attorney's fees to appellee in the amount of $500 pursuant to Rule 25, Ariz.R.Civ.App.P.

AppelleePatsy Ann Price was granted a divorce from bed and board in Kentucky on June 30, 1971.The divorce decree incorporated a property settlement agreement entered into by the parties which required appellant, James Curtis Price, to pay Mrs. Price $20 per child per week as support and maintenance for the parties' three children.The Kentucky divorce was obtained by personal service upon Mr. Price in Kentucky where both parties resided.

Mr. Price moved to Arizona and on February 22, 1973, obtained a decree of divorce in Maricopa County Superior Court.The Arizona decree incorporated the same property settlement provided for in the Kentucky divorce decree.Mr. Price served Mrs. Price by registered mail in Kentucky and thus never obtained personal service upon her; Mrs. Price never appeared in the Arizona action.

Subsequently, the Kentucky court granted Mrs. Price's motion to modify the Kentucky decree by increasing Mr. Price's payments to $35 for each child.Mr. Price appeared by counsel at the hearing on the motion for modification.On February 6, 1980, Mrs. Price obtained a lump-sum judgment from the Kentucky court in the amount of $4,950 for a deficiency representing sums due under the Kentucky divorce judgment, as modified.Mr. Price was properly served pursuant to Kentucky law; he does not contend that service was invalid.

On June 19, 1980, Mrs. Price filed the Kentucky lump-sum judgment in Maricopa County Superior Court pursuant to Arizona's Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act.A.R.S. §§ 12-1701-1708.Thereafter, Mr. Price filed a motion to set aside the foreign judgment, arguing as he does in this appeal, that the Arizona decree superseded the previous Kentucky decree.The trial judge denied the motion to set aside the Kentucky judgment and Mr. Price brought this appeal.

It is uncontroverted that the Arizona decree was granted without the court having obtained personal jurisdiction over Mrs. Price.Because the Arizona divorce decree was obtained absent personal jurisdiction over Mrs. Price, an Arizona court has no power to adjudicate Mrs. Price's property rights in her Kentucky judgment.Estin v. Estin, 334 U.S. at 547-49, 68 S.Ct. at 1217-18.We therefore affirm the ruling of the trial court because the Kentucky judgment is entitled to full faith and credit in the courts of Arizona.Id.;seeTrujillo v. Trujillo, 75 Ariz. 146, 252 P.2d 1071(1953).

Mrs. Price has asked to be awarded reasonable attorney's fees pursuant to Rule 25, Ariz.R.Civ.App.P.She contends that the "appeal taken herein is completely unsupported by any law in any jurisdiction, and that the filing of the appeal, was in fact, frivolous."We agree.Granting sanctions pursuant to Rule 25 is something that must be done with great caution.We are naturally...