Opinion ID: 1908437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appeal from the First Divorce Judgment

Text: [¶ 6] We first address Mr. Sorey's contention that the Superior Court erred when it vacated the original judgment of the District Court. Ms. Sorey argues that the first decision of the Superior Court is not before us. Contrary to her contention, however, Mr. Sorey could not have immediately appealed the Superior Court's first decision, which remanded the case to the District Court, because in such cases, [i]f the issue which the parties seek to present to this court might be affected by the action taken pursuant to the remand order, we will usually refrain from entertaining the appeal. Wheeler v. Maine Unemployment Ins. Comm'n, 477 A.2d 1141, 1145 (Me.1984). Therefore, this issue is now properly before us as an appeal from a final judgment. See In re Erica B., 520 A.2d 342, 343-45 (Me.1987); see also Melanson v. Matheson, 1998 ME 117, 711 A.2d 147, 148. [¶ 7] Nevertheless, reviewing the first divorce judgment of the District Court directly, as we do whenever the Superior Court acts as an intermediate appellate court, see Page v. Page, 671 A.2d 956, 957 (Me.1996), we conclude that the uncertainty of the property values contained in that judgment required that the judgment be vacated and remanded for further consideration to the District Court. Consequently, the Superior Court did not err when it did just that.