Opinion ID: 2639163
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: issues

Text: Jones also alleges the court abused its discretion in denying his motion to set aside the default judgment under K.S.A. 60-260(b). It states in relevant part: On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or said party's legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. In interpreting this statute, we have stated that the trial court may grant a motion to set aside a default judgment when it finds (1) that the nondefaulting party will not be prejudiced by the reopening, (2) that the defaulting party has a meritorious defense, and, (3) that the default was not the result of inexcusable neglect or a willful act. Montez v. Tonkawa Village Apartments, 215 Kan. 59, 64, 523 P.2d 351 (1974). When, as here, the trial court denies the motion, our appellate review is for its abuse of discretion, and the movant has the burden of proving relief grounds by clear and convincing evidence. In re Marriage of Zodrow, 240 Kan. 65, 68, 727 P.2d 435 (1986). Discretion is abused only where no reasonable person would take the trial court's view. Zodrow, 240 Kan. at 68. Additionally, an appellant's failure to show all three Montez elements would doom his appeal. See Jenkins v. Arnold, 223 Kan. 298, 301, 573 P.2d 1013 (1978). Jones does not appear to directly dispute the trial court's determination that valid service of process was obtained on him through service on his daughter, but rather seems to argue that he showed excusable conduct in failing to timely respond to the lawsuit. Toward that end, he alleges his case is analogous to the plight of the defendants in Montez and Mid Kansas Fed'l Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Burke, 233 Kan. 796, 666 P.2d 203 (1983). We disagree. In Montez, the resident manager for the defendant apartment complex was served with summons and a copy of a personal injury petition. According to his affidavit in support of setting aside the default judgment against the complex, he placed the papers on his desk and neither he nor any one else ever saw them again; he simply forgot about them. He failed to tell the complex's owners of the suit, and default judgment was taken. This court set aside the default judgment, holding that this was simple neglect, not inexcusable neglect or reckless indifference. 215 Kan. at 65. In Mid Kansas, defendant Carole Burke was successfully served by leaving a summons and a copy of the mortgage foreclosure petition with her husband at their residence. As with the apartment manager in Montez, he failed to inform her of the lawsuit, and default judgment was taken against her. After she became aware of the suit via receipt of a writ of assistance following the sheriff's sale, she filed a motion under K.S.A. 60-260(b). At the hearing her testimony established that her husband had a drinking problem. This court held that entrusting her husband with family financial affairs, absent any indication that she should have known that he was not making mortgage payments when due, could not be characterized as reckless or inexcusable. 233 Kan. at 799. We affirmed the trial court's vacation of the default judgment. By contrast, the case at hand reveals that three different people at three different times at two different locations received notice of the lawsuit, either through receipt of the summons and amended petition or the notice of default. Moreover, a fourth notice was apparently accepted at a third location by yet another person. Yet, allegedly none of these recipients notified Jones. Furthermore, unlike the defendants in Mid Kansas and Montez who met their burden for relief by providing evidence of simple neglect, our defendant fails to provide evidence as to what happened on these numerous occasions that prevented his notice of the suit. He provides no affidavit as to what happened at his medical clinics in Georgia and Illinois, no affidavit as to what happened with his wife at his home in Missouri, and the affidavit he provides from his daughter does not establish why she failed to notify him of the lawsuit. Moreover, while Jones' own affidavit establishes his presence in Alaska from August to November 2001, it does not solve the mystery of why he had not received notice of the multiple services of process that had been obtained at least 26 months earlier. We acknowledge that what constitutes excusable neglect must be determined on a case-by-case basis under the facts presented. Mid Kansas, 233 Kan. at 799. Under these facts, however, where notice is repeatedly accepted not only at a physician's home, but also at two of his medical offices that presumably are staffed with fellow responsible professionals, we cannot say that no reasonable person would take the position adopted by the trial court when it essentially concluded Jones was recklessly indifferent. Our affirmation of reckless indifference/inexcusable neglect eliminates the need to address the remaining elements identified in Montez : lack of prejudice to the nondefaulting party and a meritorious defense for the defaulting party. See Jenkins, 223 Kan. at 301 (Court upheld trial court's denial of motion to set aside default judgment because though the defendant demonstrated excusable neglect, he failed to establish a meritorious defense.). Affirmed.