Opinion ID: 1301652
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Void judgmentsgeneral principles

Text: ¶ 102 If that portion of the divorce judgment that required Robert to make a will in favor of his then adult children was rendered in excess of the circuit court's subject matter jurisdiction in the divorce action, that part of the judgment is void. 46 Am.Jur.2d Judgments § 29 (instructing that a judgment is void if it is in excess of a court's subject matter jurisdiction). Contravening a void judgment is not an unlawful act because a void judgment can be lawfully ignored. Cowie v. Strohmeyer, 150 Wis. 401, 440, 136 N.W. 956 (1912). Accordingly, LaBudde's drafting the 1992 will contrary to a void provision in the divorce judgment does not support a claim for aiding and abetting because drafting such a will is not aiding and abetting an unlawful act. ¶ 103 It is black letter law that a judgment pronounced by a tribunal having no authority to determine the matter in issue is necessarily and incurably void, and may be shown to be so in any collateral or other proceeding in which it is drawn in question. Fischbeck v. Mielenz, 162 Wis. 12, 18, 154 N.W. 701 (1915) (quoting 1 Freeman on Judgments, § 120). As we have explained: If the court exceeded its jurisdiction of the subject matter, then the judgment is no protection whatever. It may be ignored altogether. ... The rule is elementary, that if the matter dealt with by the judgment in this case was entirely outside of the court's jurisdiction, then,... the result was not merely erroneous and so, binding on all parties which the court had jurisdiction of, and their privies, till set aside in some of the ways appointed by law, not including collateral attack, but was a usurpation and ... void in the broadest sense of the term. Id. (emphasis added) (quoting Cowie, 150 Wis. at 440-41, 136 N.W. 956). ¶ 104 Furthermore, parties cannot create subject matter jurisdiction for a court by waiver, consent or the application of estoppel. As we explained in Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, Inc. v. Public Service Commission, 84 Wis.2d 504, 267 N.W.2d 609 (1978), this has long been the law in Wisconsin: It is fundamental that parties cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction on a court by their waiver or consent. Sec. 801.04, Stats.; Gelatt v. DeDakis, 77 Wis.2d 578, 584, 254 N.W.2d 171 (1977); Joint School v. Wisconsin Rapids Ed. Asso., 70 Wis.2d 292, [296-97,] 234 N.W.2d 289 (1975); Vishnevsky v. U.S., 418 F.Supp. 698[, 699 n. 2] (E.D.Wis. 1976). Nor can subject matter jurisdiction be conferred by estoppel. Wisconsin E.R. Bd. v. Lucas, 3 Wis.2d 464, [472,] 89 N.W.2d 300 (1958); State ex rel. Gaudynski v. Pruss, 233 Wis. 600, [606,] 290 N.W. 289 (1940).... Id. at 515-16, 267 N.W.2d 609. ¶ 105 The subject matter jurisdiction of circuit courts in divorce actions is limited to the authority granted by statute. Stasey v. Miller, 168 Wis.2d 37, 48, 483 N.W.2d 221 (1992). As we have explained, the jurisdiction [of a circuit court] in divorce actions is entirely dependent on legislative authority. Id. (citing Groh v. Groh, 110 Wis.2d 117, 122, 327 N.W.2d 655 (1983)). ¶ 106 When an argument is raised that a portion of a divorce judgment is void for want of jurisdiction, all that is needed is the determination that, in fact, jurisdiction was not acquired in the proceedings that led up to the entry of the judgment. West v. West, 82 Wis.2d 158, 166, 262 N.W.2d 87 (1978). While circuit court jurisdiction is generally broad, that is not the case when a circuit court sits in a divorce proceeding. Stasey, 168 Wis.2d at 49, 483 N.W.2d 221. In divorce proceedings, the legislature has limited the court's jurisdiction to actions affecting the family, Id., which actions are specifically described in the statutes, Id. [15]