Opinion ID: 853228
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Personal Jurisdiction and Joinder of the Father

Text: I believe the trial court and Court of Appeals were incorrect in holding that John was properly served and made a party to the dissolution proceedings. However, I believe that issue is irrelevant to this case. Although the dissolution court could not determine John's rights in the house without joining John, it could determine, as between James and Rita, what assets are in the marital pot. In July 1997, Rita filed a Motion to Join John as a party pursuant to Trial Rule 20(A)(2). [8] She mailed a copy of this motion to James' counsel by first class mail, but she did not serve John with a copy of the motion and issued no summons. The final hearing on the parties' dissolution took place in January 1998. During the first day of a two-day hearing, John was called as a witness by Rita. John made no objection to being called as a witness, and voluntarily testified. The trial court found that John was a necessary party to the litigation pursuant to Trial Rule 20(A)(2) and, when it filed the dissolution decree in August of 1998, ruled for the first time that he was joined as a party. John unsuccessfully filed a Motion to Correct Errors claiming the trial court erred by joining him as a party. Vadas v. Vadas, 728 N.E.2d 250, 255 (Ind. Ct.App.2000). The Court of Appeals concluded that John voluntarily waived any objection to personal jurisdiction because he voluntarily appeared in court and participated in the proceedings by testifying as a witness without objection. Id. at 256. As a result, the Court of Appeals held that John was precluded from challenging the trial court's personal jurisdiction over him. Id. In my view, John was never added as a party by the trial court. Indiana Trial Rule 4 provides that [t]he court acquires jurisdiction over a party or person who under these rules commences or joins in the action, is served with summons or enters an appearance, or who is subjected to the power of the court under any other law. Ind. Trial Rule 4. John meets none of these tests. He did not commence or join the action, he was never served with a summons, and he did not enter an appearance. There is no statute authorizing this procedure to add a party. The parties cite no Indiana precedent for the proposition that testifying as a witness without objection at a trial subjects a witness or his property to the jurisdiction of the trial court, and I know of none. Indeed, in my view, this procedure violated John's due process and due course of law rights guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions. The minimal requirements of due process are notice reasonably calculated to apprise an interested party of the pendency of the action, Matter of Murray, 266 Ind. 221, 223, 362 N.E.2d 128, 129 (1977), the opportunity to present evidence on one's behalf, Anderson Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Guardianship of Davidson, 173 Ind.App. 549, 555, 364 N.E.2d 781, 784 (1977), the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, Armes v. Pierce Governor Co., Inc., 121 Ind.App. 566, 575, 101 N.E.2d 199, 203-04 (1951), and the opportunity to be fully heard, Neill v. Ridner, 153 Ind.App. 149, 155, 286 N.E.2d 427, 430 (1972). These rights apply to third parties who are needed to adjudicate an issue, just as they do to any other party to a proceeding. Anderson, 173 Ind.App. at 556, 364 N.E.2d at 785. Because John was never given the benefit of any of the procedures required by Trial Rule 4, he was not put on notice that his rights were being adjudicated. Formal summons and service can be waived, but waiver requires a set of circumstances where the person charged with waiver is aware he has been served and takes actions inconsistent with asserting failure of service. When John appeared at his son's trial and testified at his son's divorce hearing, he could expect his son's rights to be adjudicated, but he had no reason to believe his own interests were to be resolved. Serving a copy of the motion on the lawyer representing John's son did not cure this problem. James' lawyer already represented James in the dissolution and could properly assume she received her copy of the motion on behalf of her client pursuant to Rita's obligation to serve her with a copy of any motion. The lawyer had no indication that the motion served on her was intended to put a third party on notice, even if the third party was her client's father. There is no reason to question James' lawyer's statement that she accepted the service as the attorney for James, not as the attorney for John. In my view, Rita unnecessarily sought to add John under Indiana Trial Rule 20(A)(2). Had Rita sought title to the house, Trial Rule 20(A)(2) would have been necessary because an order terminating John's interest would be required. However, Rita asked only for a dollar amount reflecting her interest in the marital assets. That can be awarded without affecting John's title to the house. Because John was not made a party, John is still free to dispute the extent of his interest in the house. If John chooses to do that, James will be exposed to the risk of inconsistent adjudications. To avoid this risk, however, James could, if he wished, have invoked Indiana Trial Rule 19(A)(2)(b). That rule provides: A person who is subject to service of process shall be joined as a party in the action if ... he claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in his absence may ... leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations by reason of his claimed interest. T.R. 19(A)(2)(b). This rule provides for mandatory joinder to avoid James' exposure to paying both Rita and John for the same asset. If this procedure had been invoked, John's rights would have been properly adjudicated in this proceeding. In sum, I think it was error to treat John as a party. The only effect of this proceeding is to determine that James, not James and Rita, owns whatever interest the couple, or either of them, had in the property. Only James and Rita are necessary parties to this adjudication, and only they are bound by it.