Opinion ID: 1956315
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Post-Trial Amendment of the Pleadings

Text: We turn now to the principal issue on appeal: the court's granting of appellee Sidney Moore's motions to conform the pleadings to the evidence and to receive an award of attorneys' fees. At the close of trial, the trial court indicated its belief that the custody and child support matters, including visitation rights and related bond, were ripe for resolution. The court, however, indicated some hesitancy about the propriety of deciding the separate maintenance and attorneys' fees questions on the state of the evidence at that time. Nonetheless, the trial judge entertained and granted appellee's post-trial motion to conform the pleadings to the evidence, including a counterclaim for custody, child support, separate maintenance, and attorneys' fees. The judge then proceeded to resolve not only the custody and child support matters but also the questions of separate maintenance and attorneys' fees. Appellant now asserts, as he did at trial, that because appellee requested no affirmative relief in pretrial pleadings the court erred in affording her any relief. It is one thing, he argues, to deny his claim for custody; it is another to award custody to appellee, as well as child support, separate maintenance, and attorneys' fees. He essentially contends, therefore, that the court abused its discretion in permitting the posttrial pleading amendment under Super.Ct. Dom.Rel.R. 15(b), since he was unaware at trial that the matters ultimately stated in appellee's counterclaim were at stake; he was not prepared, nor given an adequate opportunity, to contest them. Our treatment of this argument must begin with Rule 15(b), which is identical to Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 15(b). [3] Our analysis is accordingly aided by authorities which have interpreted the federal rule. Rule 15(b) is an attempt to favor substance over form, i.e., to avoid the tyranny of formalism, Rosden v. Leuthold, 107 U.S.App.D.C. 89, 92, 274 F.2d 747, 750 (1960), and thus promote the resolution of cases on their merits by permitting the amendment of pleadings to reflect the actual litigation which transpired. Wright & Miller, Fed.Prac. & Proc., Civil § 1491. Courts accordingly are empowered to permit parties to amend pleadings after trial  even after judgment  to add claims, defenses, and counterclaims, as long as the proposed augmentation of the pleadings encompasses matters expressly or impliedly tried by consent of the parties. Id. at §§ 1491-93. See Seek v. Edgar, D.C.App., 293 A.2d 474, 476-77 (1972). In fact, if a court finds such express or implied consent, it is authorized  indeed mandated  to resolve those issues even if the pleadings are not amended. Wright & Miller, supra at § 1493. If issues not raised in pleadings are tried by express consent of the parties, there can be no question about the propriety of permitting amendment. The difficult issue arises when, as in most Rule 15(b) cases, implied consent is asserted. Whether parties have impliedly contested a matter  i. e., whether parties recognize that an issue not stated by the pleadings entered the case, see Wasik v. Borg, 423 F.2d 44 (2d Cir. 1970)  is determined by searching the trial record for indications that the party contesting the amendment received actual notice of the injection of the unpleaded matters, as well as an adequate opportunity to litigate such matters and to cure any surprise from their introduction. Wright & Miller, supra at § 1491. See Seek v. Edgar, supra ; Wasik v. Borg, supra . If a party does not receive, either before or during trial, timely notice that a matter is being litigated, he or she can justifiably assert prejudicial deprivation of a day in court, should the matter be decided. The clearest indications of a party's implied consent to try an issue lie in the failure to object to evidence, or in the introduction of evidence which is clearly apposite to the new issue but not to other matters specified in the pleadings. Wright & Miller, supra at § 1493. Cf. Cole v. Layrite Products Co., 439 F.2d 958 (9th Cir. 1971) (inclusion of issues only inferentially suggested by incidental evidence not permitted under Rule 15(b)). Having in mind the tension between the desire to abandon formalism and, on the other hand, the need to assure fair notice and opportunity to litigate, we turn to the facts to assess whether the trial court's grant of permission to amend and, ultimately, its resolution of the additional issues were within the purview of discretion granted under Rule 15(b).
Although at the time of trial only appellant, and not his wife, had filed an action for custody, we conclude  without difficulty  that appellant was on timely notice that the court would decide not merely whether he was entitled to custody but, more broadly, would determine who was entitled to custody. Mrs. Moore asserted in her answer to appellant's complaint that the best interests of the child would be served by the child's being in her custody. Moreover, both parties introduced evidence supporting their respective qualifications for custodian. In addition, appellant conceded at trial that the New York court had suggested that all issues pertinent to custody be tried in his District of Columbia action; this was the reason that Mrs. Moore had withdrawn her jurisdictional challenge. Finally, Mrs. Moore's own habeas corpus petition filed in the District of Columbia prior to the present action manifested her intention to gain custody. Appellant accordingly can claim no surprise or lack of notice or opportunity to litigate. The issue of Mrs. Moore's right to permanent custody  even if not raised by the pleadings  clearly was tried by the parties and the court. See Johnson v. Ridgeway, D.C.App., 354 A.2d 851 (1976); Seek v. Edgar, supra ; Jacobson v. Jacobson, D.C. App., 277 A.2d 280, 282-83 (1971). The trial court, therefore, did not abuse its discretion by permitting Mrs. Moore to file a post-trial counterclaim for custody, pursuant to Rule 15(b), and deciding the issue.
The pretrial pleadings do not include a claim for child support. Our determination, therefore, again must be whether the issue was litigated by implied consent. For two reasons we find that it was. First, and most germane, we believe that the resolution of child support inheres in a custody battle where the best interests of the child are the focal concern. See Cobbe v. Cobbe, D.C.Mun.App., 163 A.2d 333, 336 (1960). The trial judge recognized this relationship when she opined that a grant of support was required by the court's duty to afford complete relief. Second, our conclusion is bolstered by appellee's introduction of evidence of the financial needs of the child. As appellee points out, this evidence was not contested on relevance grounds; it served to put appellant on notice. See Wright & Miller, supra at § 1493. In light of these two factors, we conclude that appellant received ample notice that the matter of child support would be determined and that he therefore impliedly consented. The trial court accordingly did not abuse its Rule 15(b) discretion in permitting appellee's amendment of the pleadings to raise the issue of child support. [4]
Appellant does not dispute that visitation rights are a proper subject for determination as part of the overall custody question. In her Rule 15(b) motion, appellee did not request imposition of a bond covering her husband's visits with Jessica. However, because trial courts are given broad discretion in resolving custody cases, O'Meara v. O'Meara, D.C.App., 355 A.2d 561 (1976), and ought to fashion relief to foster and safeguard a child's best interests, see Crain v. Crain, D.C.App., 209 A.2d 257 (1965), we find no fault with the imposition of a bond upon a parent whose history reflected a capacity for absconding with the child. The judge was acting within the scope of her duties and powers to grant complete relief. Rule 54(c). She did not abuse her discretion.
This court has determined that even though there is no specific statutory authorization for attorneys' fees awards in child custody cases, courts are empowered to award them to a parent who has enlisted legal assistance to protect the interests of the child. Eisenberg v. Eisenberg, D.C. App., 357 A.2d 396, 401-02 (1976); Paine v. Paine, D.C.App., 267 A.2d 356 (1970). This apparent exception to the American Rule disfavoring counsel fee awards to the prevailing party is justified by recharacterizing such fees as awards of necessaries for the child, not as awards of counsel fees per se. Paine v. Paine, supra . Although counsel fees for the assertion of a minor's interests are not as integral to a custody claim as child support, we believe that, given legal precedent, the prospect of incurring such fees would surely be within the contemplation of an opposing party. We note in this connection that evidence of expenditures for counsel fees to District of Columbia lawyers was admitted without objection. We also recognize that the trial judge initially reserved judgment on the issue, entertained a motion and opposition, and then held a hearing before awarding the fees. On this record we find no prejudicial surprise to appellant. We therefore affirm the court's decision to permit amendment of the pleadings to consider resolution of the attorneys' fees issue. Super.Ct.Dom.Rel.R. 15(b), 54(c).
The grant of spousal support is a different matter. The initial pleadings did not mention a claim for separate maintenance, which is not customarily a part of a child custody suit between parents whose marital relationship had not been  and was not being  litigated. While evidence of Mrs. Moore's financial needs was admitted without objection relatively late in the proceedings, we cannot conclude that this evidence was so uniquely pertinent to her support alone, in contrast with the custody or the child support issues, that it justifies our concluding that appellant had adequate, timely notice of, and an opportunity to contest, a claim by his wife for her own support. We find no other indication of record that appellant impliedly consented to try his wife's support claim, Rule 15(b), nor can we conclude that the award was a proper, supportable element of full relief in the child custody action. Rule 54(b). We therefore find an abuse of trial court discretion in permitting amendment of the pleadings to include separate maintenance and, thereafter, in making such an award. [5]