Justia Family Law Opinion Summaries

In this marital dissolution proceeding, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court awarding child support and failing to award retroactive child support, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion.The district court awarded Wife permanent child support of $1,800 per month from Husband and declined Wife's request for retroactive child support. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the district court (1) did not err or abuse its discretion in categorizing Husband's income from his father as "gift income," resulting in the exclusion of that income from the court's child support calculation; and (2) did not abuse its discretion when it refused to award Wife retroactive child support. View "Miller v. Miller" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decree of guardianship by the district court granting guardianship of Mother's son to his maternal grandparents, holding that the district court did not err in finding that continued efforts to reunify Mother and child would likely be unproductive.After a hearing, the district court granted the Department of Public Health and Human Services' petition for guardianship of six-year-old S.S. On appeal, Mother argued that the district court erred in finding that continued efforts to reunify Mother and S.S. would likely be unproductive. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the record contained substantial evidence to support the district court's finding that additional reunification efforts would not be productive. View "In re S.S." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court ordering equitable division of a jointly-owned retirement annuity, holding that the district court erred.The property settlement agreement that the parties entered into distributed more than $3 million in assets that were either Charles "Bo" Harms's premarital assets or primarily gifted to or inherited by Bo. At issue was whether a remainder clause in the parties' property settlement agreement providing that "all other real and personal property" would be distributed to Bo provided for distribution to him of all assets not otherwise identified. Sharon Harms argued that the parties' annuity was mistakenly omitted from the parties' settlement agreement. Bo filed a motion for contempt, claiming that Sharon was noncompliant with the final decree for failing to transfer the annuity to Bo. The district court denied Bo's motion and ordered that the annuity be equitably divided. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court erred in finding that there was a mutual mistake in omitting the annuity from the settlement agreement. View "In re Marriage of Harms" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court dismissing pending abuse and neglect proceedings after Child was returned to the care of Mother in South Carolina, holding that the district court did not err by dismissing the proceedings and placing Child with the non-offending parent.The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Child and Family Services Division removed Child from Father's care after he was arrested and incarcerated for assaulting his girlfriend. Mother requested that the district court dismiss the abuse and neglect proceedings or, in the alternative, place Child with her and confer with the South Carolina family court under the provisions of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The district court granted custody to Mother and ordered that the matter be dismissed upon confirmation of Child's return to South Carolina. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err by dismissing the abuse and neglect proceedings after Child was returned to Mother's care in South Carolina. View "In re D.H." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court terminating Mother's parental rights to her son, C.K., holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it failed to amend Mother's treatment plan or when it determined that Mother was unlikely to change within a reasonable time.After a termination hearing, the district court terminated Mother's parental rights pursuant to Mont. Code Ann. 41-3-609(1)(f). On appeal, Mother argued, among other things, that the district court abused its discretion when it failed to amend her treatment plan to enumerate specific parenting tasks related to raising a child with autism and to provide for related services. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion (1) in refusing to amend Mother's treatment plan on the day of the termination hearing; and (2) in finding that Mother was unlikely to change in a reasonable time. View "In re C.K." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order issued by the district court concerning the conservatorship and estate planning efforts of Appellant's elderly mother, H.D.K., holding that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the district court (1) did not abuse its discretion when it declined to issue a scheduling order; (2) did not abuse its discretion in declining to quash a subpoena for the file of H.D.K.'s attorney; (3) did not abuse its discretion when it concluded the conservatorship hearing after three days; (4) did not err when it issued findings regarding how H.D.K. intended to allocate her estate; (5) did not err by determining the present values of the properties in H.D.K.'s estate; and (6) did not err when it found H.D.K. had testamentary capacity. View "In re H.D.K." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Linda Dower motion for partial summary judgment wherein she argued that certain trust assets should be included in an estate in order to satisfy her statutory allowances, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion.Douglas Dower was married to Alyce Dower until her death in 2008. The couple had four children, including Jayne Dower Lux, and executed a revocable living trust. In 2011, Douglas married Linda. After Douglas died and during the probate process, Linda argued that certain trust assets should be included in the estate for purposes of satisfying her statutory allowances. The district court denied Linda's claims. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court (1) did not err when it concluded that trust assets were nonprobate assets and could only be used to satisfy Linda's statutory allowances when and to the extent the probate estate was insufficient; (2) did not err when it determined the probate estate was sufficient to satisfy Linda's statutory allowances through the abatement of her specific devises; and (3) did not abuse its discretion by denying Linda's motion to remove Lux as personal representative. View "In re Estate of Dower" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part four provisions of a district court order and amended parenting plan in this case, holding that certain provisions in the provisions in the court's amended parenting plan were erroneous.The amended parenting plan at issue required Sarah Willmon and her husband to attend family counseling, allowed her ex-husband, Marlen Russell, to contact the children regularly, required the parties to mediate future disputes, and split between the parties the tax dependency deductions. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the district court (1) erred to the extent it ordered Sarah's current husband to attend family counseling; (2) abused its discretion when it ordered that Marlen may contact the children "regularly"; (3) erred when it ordered future conflicts to be subject to mandatory mediation; and (4) did not err when it divided the tax dependency deductions between the parties. View "In re Parenting of P.H.R." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the district court terminating Mother's and Father's respective parental rights to their child, holding that the district court did not err.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the district court (1) did not erroneously proceed to a youth-in-need-of-care (YINC) adjudication, temporary legal custody, and parental rights termination without a determination of the child's eligibility for enrollment in the Lakota Sioux Tribe; (2) did not erroneously re-adjudicate the child as a YINC or later erroneously find under Mont. Code Ann. 41-3-609(1)(f) that it had; and (3) did not erroneously terminate Father's parental rights under section 41-3-609(1)(f)(ii) without sufficient evidence to prove by clear and convincing evidence that his conduct or condition of unfitness was unlikely to change within a reasonable time. View "In re L.H." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court granting relief to Melissa Lynn Fuller from the 2016 final decree of dissolution of the marriage of Melissa and Bradley Dean Fuller, holding that the district court erred in setting aside the final decree of dissolution on the ground of perjury under Mont. Code Ann. 40-4-253(5).The district court concluded that the failure to the parties to disclose their jointly owned business to the court, which they determined that they would settled after the divorce, violated the law requiring full disclosure of assets, debts, income, and expenses. The court granted Melissa's requested relief by raising sua sponte the issue of mutual perjury under section 40-4-253(5), concluding that significant nondisclosures in final declarations of marital assets are conditions that justified the court to reopen the final decree. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that because the parties chose not to include their jointly owned businesses in their disclosures, the district court erred by reopening the judgment on that basis. View "In re Marriage of Fuller" on Justia Law