Will a Virginia divorce court reopen an entire case after it was sent back on appeal for recalculation of child support payments?
Not in West v. West, CH03-938, where a Virginia Circuit Court issued a letter opinion stating that the Court of Appeals’ mandate only reopened the case for the limited issue of adjusting child support payments.
The parties were involved in a long process of litigation to settle the issues in the divorce, and the trial court ruled on the grounds for divorce, equitable distribution, custody and child and spousal support in a written opinion that was incorporated into the final divorce decree. A few days prior to the final decree, the trial court established that the husband’s income was nearly double the amount previously stipulated and relied upon by the court in making the child support determination. However, rather than recalculating the child support guidelines, the trial court adjusted payments by requiring the husband to pay 70% of the uninsured medical costs while the mother would cover the remaining 30%. Both parties appealed to the Court of Appeals, and in West v. West, 53 Va. App. 125 (2008), the Court of Appeals affirmed all of the lower court’s findings except for the child support determination, which the Court remanded “for recalculation [of child support] using the parties’ respective income at the time of the final decree.” The parties mistakenly treated the Court of Appeals’ mandate as having reopened the original divorce case and tried to re-litigate matters, even attempting discovery proceedings and issuing several subpoenas duces tecum.
As the Circuit Court asserted in its written opinion, Rule 1:1 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia confirms that a final judgment remains in control of the court for 21 days and no longer; following that date, the final order cannot be disturbed and the trial court’s decision becomes final. The Court affirmed that while a divorce case may be reinstated on the court docket when full relief has not been obtained pursuant to §20-121.1, neither party in West asked to reinstate the case; instead it was closed and only reopened by the Virginia Court of Appeals for the limited specific purpose of recalculating child support using the evidence already obtained prior to the final divorce decree. By not complying with the plain order of the appellate court, the parties were in error, and nothing beyond the mandatory order of the Court of Appeals could be determined. See Hart v. Hart, 35 Va. App. 221 (2001).
The Circuit Court affirmed that any judgment or order entered by a court lacking jurisdiction is a nullity, because the trial court does not have authority to exceed the scope of the matters sent to the court for remand. See Hart v. Hart, 35 Va. App. 221 (2001). Therefore, any orders entered following the Court of Appeals remand were null and void, and “only to the extent that an order that is not in furtherance of an appellate court mandate in a closed court can be considered valid, the Court finds any such order to be interlocutory and subject to correction.
According to Freezer v. Miller, 163 Va. 180 (1934), “an interlocutory judgment or decree made in the progress of a cause is always under the control of the court until the final decision of the suit, and it may be modified or rescinded, upon sufficient grounds shown, at any time before final judgment.” Here, the judge’s recusal order remained in full force, and the trial court’s custody decision, because it was heard de novo, would not be treated as part of this case, and instead would be remanded to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Therefore, the Circuit Court recalculated the parties’ income for support payments according to the Court of Appeals mandate, but refused to reopen the entire divorce case, because it was outside the scope of the remand jurisdiction.
You should consult with your Virginia divorce attorney or Glen Allen divorce lawyer James H. Wilson, Jr., concerning the scope of jurisdiction in your Virginia family law matter.