Opinion ID: 1125214
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Attorney and Guardian Ad Litem Fees

Text: The mother asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering her to pay one-half of the father's legal fees and one-half of the guardian ad litem's fees because the father did not offer evidence regarding the reasonableness of the fees. The trial court may order either party in a divorce case to pay any amount that is necessary to permit the other party to carry on or defend the action. Rocha v. Rocha, 925 P.2d 231, 234 (Wyo.1996); WYO. STAT. § 20-2-111 (1997). The decision to award attorney's fees rests within the sound discretion of the district court when such fees are authorized by statute. 925 P.2d at 234. Of course, the party seeking to recover attorney's fees bears the burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of the fees and must also submit an itemized billing reflecting the time and rate charged. Id. The mother did not object when the guardian ad litem's bill was entered as an exhibit at the trial. A list of the father's legal fees was also admitted without an objection being made by the mother. Both of these exhibits itemized the respective fees. In Rocha, the appellant argued that the district court should not have awarded attorney's fees because the appellee did not present evidence to show that the fees were necessary and the statute required proof of necessity. Id. This Court disagreed: An itemized list of [the appellee's] attorney's fees was introduced at the hearing and [the appellant] did not object to its introduction. Reasonableness is, of course, a component of the test articulated in Pekas [ v. Thompson, 903 P.2d 532, 536 (Wyo.1995) ]. Here, the only evidence of reasonableness was the itemized list which was introduced with no objection from [the appellant]. In the absence of an objection, the reasonableness of the attorney's fees will be determined by the district court through the exercise of its sound discretion. In making that decision, the district court can rely on the itemized list and the directions provided by Wyo. Stat. § 1-14-126(b) (Cum.Supp.1996). The district court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded attorney's fees in this matter. Id. The relevant facts in the case at bar mirror the facts in Rocha. Since the mother did not object to either itemization, it was within the trial court's sound discretion to determine the reasonableness of the fees. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it required the mother to pay one-half of the fees.