Opinion ID: 2731235
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jackson’s Remaining Arguments

Text: [¶27] Jackson’s remaining arguments are without merit. Jackson received sufficient notice of the cause of action, a motion to modify, when it was served upon him. See M.R. Civ. P. 5(b), (d), 8(a). That the motion did not include the specific facts that the court ultimately found constituted a substantial change in circumstances is immaterial. Courts may order modification of parental rights orders based on events that occur after the filing of the motion to modify. See Gordon, 2013 ME 113, ¶¶ 1, 5, 8, 82 A.3d 1221 (affirming the modification of a child custody order relying in part on events that occurred seven months after the motion was filed); Sloan, 2012 ME 72, ¶¶ 1, 10-20, 43 A.3d 978 (affirming a modification of parental rights that relied on events that occurred in the year-and-a-half interim period between the filing of the motion and the hearing). [¶28] For similar reasons, the court’s previous order barring reconsideration of sole parental rights on res judicata grounds did not require the court to ignore 14 the events surrounding the seventeen-year-old child’s driver’s education. Whether or not those events are relevant to any determination regarding sole parental rights, they are relevant to the court’s determination of Jackson's rights of contact with the children. Jackson and MacLeod’s disagreement over whether the seventeen-year-old child should enroll in driver’s education and get his driver’s permit may be relevant to the allocation of decision-making authority, i.e., the issue of sole parental rights, but it is also relevant to the court’s determination of Jackson’s rights of contact with the children.