Stone v. Stone
| Decision Date | 25 April 1974 |
| Citation | 521 P.2d 534,268 Or. 446 |
| Parties | Edna Lucille STONE, also known as Edna Lucille Brack, Respondent, v. Fred P. STONE, Appellant. |
| Court | Oregon Supreme Court |
Robert P. VanNatta of VanNatta & Petersen, St. Helens, argued the cause and filed a brief for appellant.
Allen J. Bell of Parker, Abraham & Bell, Hood River, argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.
Defendant Fred P. Stone appeals from an order of the circuit court registering a Washington divorce decree pursuant to ORS Chapter 24, Oregon's Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and Decrees act, and ordering the payment of certain arrearages and future support payments.
The parties were divorced in the state of Washington on August 10, 1967. At that time they had four children. The divorce decree provided that each parent was to have custody of two of the children and that defendant was to pay plaintiff $50 per month child support. Defendant remarried and moved to Oregon.
In June, 1970, the state of Washington, acting on plaintiff's behalf in accordance with ORS Chapter 110, Oregon's Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, obtained an order from the Columbia County circuit court to secure the future payment of $50 per month per child. Plaintiff subsequently obtained custody of the couple's other two children and on October 10, 1970, the Washington divorce court amended the original divorce decree to require defendant to pay $200 per month to plaintiff for child support.
Subsequently in June, 1971, the defendant apparently having failed to provide support payments, the Washington State Welfare Department again filed a petition under ORS Chapter 110 in Columbia County and obtained an order for payments totaling $120 per month child support. In December, 1971, plaintiff instituted an action under ORS Chapter 24, but the action was dismissed without prejudice when plaintiff failed to produce a copy of the Washington divorce decree as required under ORS 24.030. Plaintiff refiled in March, 1972, instituting the proceeding out of which this appeal arises. As noted above, the trial court, sitting without a jury registered the foreign judgment and ordered the payment of support money which was past due and also support money to become due in the future.
Defendant first assigns as error the failure of the trial court to allow a jury trial on the question of whether defendant had made payment of the amounts called for by the Washington divorce decree. This contention is without merit.
The function of a proceeding under ORS Chapter 24 is simply to convert a valid judgment of a sister state into an Oregon judgment enforceable in the Oregon courts. The only relevant inquiry in such a proceeding is the validity of the foreign judgment. 1 The issue of payment is irrelevant at this stage of the proceeding and therefore cannot be the ground for claiming a right to trial by jury.
Once the judgment is registered, it becomes a judgment of the Oregon court and must be treated as an Oregon judgment. The court sits as a court of equity with respect to marriage dissolution proceedings in Oregon. 2 In a proceeding to enforce a payment of support money under an Oregon divorce decree, a defendant who sets up the defense of payment of the amount due on the judgment has never been afforded a jury trial to try that issue. 3 There is no reason for applying a different rule when, as here, the defendant raises the issue of payment in the enforcement of a foreign as distinguished from a domestic divorce decree.
Defendant next assigns as error the action of the trial court in dismissing without prejudice the registration proceedings by its order of March 16, 1972. Defendant, relying upon ORS 24.020, argues that the registration of a foreign decree was completed upon petitioner's filing an application for registration. 4 He then relies upon ORS 24.100, which provides as follows:
'An order setting aside a registration constitutes a final judgment in favor of the judgment debtor.'
It is argued that the March 16 order dismissing the proceedings was 'an order setting aside a registration' and, being final under ORS...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Ames v. Ames
...procedure for converting a valid judgment of a sister state into an Oregon judgment enforceable in Oregon courts. Stone v. Stone, 268 Or. 446, 449, 521 P.2d 534 (1974). A valid foreign judgment is defined as: "Any judgment, decree or order of a court * * * which is entitled to full faith an......
-
Marie Callender Pie Shops, Inc. v. Bumbleberry Enterprises, Inc., s. A7703
...as a matter of law and fact, whether the judgment is entitled to full faith and credit, whether it is valid, See Stone v. Stone, 268 Or. 446, 521 P.2d 534 (1974), and whether defendant has established any defenses going to the validity of the judgment. See Gem Mfg. Corp. v. Lents Industries......
-
McWilliams v. Szymanski
...admitted. In any event, the complaints were admissible as "admissions by a party opponent" under OEC 801(4)(b)(A). See Stone v. Stone, 268 Or. 446, 521 P.2d 534 (1974). Plaintiffs also contend that the trial court erred in its assessment under OEC 403 of the relevancy of the complaints and ......
-
Smith v. Williams
...was a "judicial admission," which defendant could not contradict. However, that admission was only evidence, see Stone v. Stone, 268 Or. 446, 450, 521 P.2d 534 (1974), and we find the contrary evidence more persuasive. The trial court also found that defendant's testimony was not credible, ......
-
Chapter § 65.2 JUDGMENT LIENS
...satisfied in like manner. ORS 24.115(3). Once filed, the judgment becomes essentially an Oregon judgment. Stone v. Stone, 268 Or 446, 449, 521 P2d 534 (1974) (decided under similar, former statutes). Thus, the judgment creditor may defend against the enforcement of the judgment by proof tha......