Opinion ID: 1298482
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the pleadings and guardian's right to relief

Text: Stangl also asserts that Guardian is not entitled to reformation of the indorsement because it failed to seek reformation at trial. Guardian's complaint sought equitable relief in the form of a judgment declaring the rights of the parties under the Sargetis note. In addition, Guardian pleaded mistake as an affirmative defense to Stangl's counterclaim on the Sargetis note. In Behrens v. Raleigh Hills Hosp., Inc., 675 P.2d 1179, 1182 (Utah 1983), we reiterated that the policy of our rules of procedure is to decide cases on the merits rather than pleading technicalities. Rule 54(c)(1) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a court shall grant all the relief to which the prevailing party is entitled, even if a demand was not made for such relief in the pleadings. Indeed, in Mabey v. Kay Peterson Constr. Co., 682 P.2d 287, 290 (Utah 1984), we squarely held that Rule 54(c)(1) allows a court to reform a document if a mutual mistake is established, even if the issue of mutual mistake was not raised and reformation was not demanded in the pleadings. Here, the complaint for a declaratory judgment was a sufficient request for relief, and in any event, the rule laid down in Mabey also applies where the mistake is unilateral and reformation is appropriate.