Case Name: Gordon Allyn COPPEDGE and Anna Gloria Coppedge, Petitioners, v. The Honorable Raymond M. HARDING, Fourth Judicial District Judge, and James Henry Hyde and Gail Ann Coppedge Hyde, Respondents
Court: Utah Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Utah
Decision Date: 1985-11-21
Citations: 714 P.2d 1121
Docket Number: No. 20862
Parties: Gordon Allyn COPPEDGE and Anna Gloria Coppedge, Petitioners, v. The Honorable Raymond M. HARDING, Fourth Judicial District Judge, and James Henry Hyde and Gail Ann Coppedge Hyde, Respondents.
Judges: HOWE, J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of STEWART, J.
Reporter: Pacific Reporter 2d
Volume: 714
Pages: 1121–1131

Head Matter:
Gordon Allyn COPPEDGE and Anna Gloria Coppedge, Petitioners, v. The Honorable Raymond M. HARDING, Fourth Judicial District Judge, and James Henry Hyde and Gail Ann Coppedge Hyde, Respondents.
No. 20862.
Supreme Court of Utah.
Nov. 21, 1985.
Suzanne Marelius, Salt Lake City, for petitioners.
David L. Wilkinson, Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, Lynn D. Wardle, Provo, Jay W. Fitt, Orem, for respondents.

Opinion:
ORDER
PER CURIAM.
On March 19, 1985, Gordon and Anna Coppedge, petitioners in this action, requested that the circuit court of Washington County, Oregon, make them guardians of Jason Allyn Hyde, their ten-year-old grandson who was residing with them in Oregon. In re Jason Allyn Hyde, No. J 13-259 (Circuit Court of Washington County, Oregon). The Oregon court granted the guardianship petition on July 1, 1985, and appointed the Coppedges as Jason's guardians until his twenty-first birthday, subject to review in one year from the date of the order.
Jason's parents, James and Gail Hyde, respondents herein, are residents of Utah. On advice of counsel, who informed them that the Oregon court had no jurisdiction, the Hydes did not appear in the Oregon action, although they were notified of the pendency of the guardianship petition. On May 9, 1985, while the guardianship petition was pending, the Hydes instituted an action against the Coppedges in the district court in Utah County, Utah. Hyde v. Coppedge, No. 69556 (Fourth Judicial District Court of Utah County, Utah, filed May 9, 1985). In that action, the Hydes are seeking to obtain custody of Jason. The Hydes also assert numerous tort claims against the Coppedges and seek compensatory and punitive damages.
The Coppedges moved to dismiss the Utah action on June 11, 1985. Before the Utah court had ruled on the Coppedges' motion, the Hydes moved on August 13, 1985, for a temporary restraining order directing the Coppedges to return custody of Jason to the Hydes. The Utah court granted the temporary restraining order on August 13, 1985, and on August 23rd denied the Coppedges' motion to dismiss. On August 29, 1985, the Coppedges filed a petition with this Court for a writ of mandamus, asking that we direct the district court to dismiss the action filed by the Hydes, dissolve the temporary restraining order, and order the return of Jason to Oregon.
We have heard argument and have considered the extensive filings of the parties and conclude as follows: that the Oregon court had jurisdiction over Jason Hyde under section 3 of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, which has been enacted in Oregon as Or.Rev.Stat. § 109.-700 to .930 (1983); that respondents James and Gail Ann Hyde were properly served with notice of the Oregon proceeding under section 5 of the Uniform Act and were provided an opportunity to be heard by the Oregon court, an opportunity they declined to exercise; that the Oregon court's assumption of jurisdiction to enter an order instituting a guardianship over Jason Hyde did not violate the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution; that under section 6 of the Uniform Act, enacted in Utah as section 78-45c-6 of the Code, the Utah district court was required to stay the Utah proceeding to the extent that the Hydes sought an order determining the custody of Jason under the provisions of the Uniform Act and to communicate with the Oregon court as soon as it was apprised of the prior Oregon proceeding "to the end that the issues may be litigated in the more appropriate forum"; that the Utah court did not take these statutorily required steps; that on the basis of the facts made known to it, the Oregon court exercised jurisdiction over Jason Hyde "substantially in conformity" with the Uniform Act and, therefore, under section 78-45c-6(l), the Utah court should not have exercised jurisdiction over the matter unless the Oregon court, after having been contacted by the Utah court, had first stayed its proceeding in favor of Utah, as contemplated by section 6(1), or until the Oregon court had an opportunity to consider and determine the claims of respondents Hyde that Oregon should not exercise jurisdiction under the Uniform Act for any reason; that if the Oregon court continues in its exercise of jurisdiction over Jason Hyde after being presented with respondents Hyde's contentions, there will be ample opportunity for the Utah court to look further into the question of whether, on the facts made known to it, the Oregon court has exercised jurisdiction "substantially in conformity with" the Uniform Act, as contemplated by sections 78 — 45c—6(1) and 78-45c-8 of the Code, and whether the Oregon court's order is subject to modification under section 78-45C-14.
Based on the foregoing, the district court is ordered to stay the Utah action to the extent that it seeks to determine custody under the Uniform Act. The district court is further ordered to communicate with the Oregon court, as required by section 78-45c-6(3) of the Code, to determine the propriety of further proceedings in Oregon. In the event that the Oregon court stays its proceedings after such communication, then the Utah court may proceed to adjudicate the custody matter.
The need for prompt action in this matter requires the immediate issuance of this order. Opinions will follow.