Court Opinion

ID: 9519479
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:17:14.072626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:25.366362
License: Public Domain

VANDE WALLE, Justice,
concurring in result.
Ordinarily on appeal we rely on the adversarial system to elucidate the issues before the court and present the appropriate law to resolve those issues. In this instance, that system did not function. Although I concur in most of the majority opinion, I recognize the practicality of Justice Meschke’s special concurrence. Nevertheless, that concurrence highlights my concern over the procedure on appeal in this case.
Although Gary brought separate motions to reduce his child support obligations for the children he had with Debra and the children he had with Charlene, and although the motions were consolidated for consideration by the trial court, when Debra appealed she did not serve a notice of appeal on Charlene or her attorney nor *249were they parties to this appeal. Charlene might not be a party to the appeal simply because the motions for reduction in child support were consolidated for hearing. But, more significantly given Gary’s limited income, it appears that if support for Debra’s child is to be increased it will be at the expense of the payments to Charlene’s children. That is exactly the position Debra took on appeal, while conceding that she did not include Charlene as a party to the appeal.
If possible, we should not “make new law” without the adversaries describing for us the benefits and pitfalls of the various positions which the court might adopt. Here Gary chose not to participate in the appeal, perhaps because he thought his liability for child support was fixed and only the distribution among the children was of concern. If so, both the majority opinion and the special concurrence cast doubt on that supposition. It may be that his failure to participate was due to the lack of financial means to do so as described by Justice Meschke in his special concurrence. In any event, it was his decision to participate or not and his decision to not participate in the appeal is at his own risk.
The same is not true of Charlene. Debra did not give her the opportunity to participate as she was not served with the notice of appeal and was not considered by Debra or this court as a party to the appeal, despite the fact that Debra’s proposed solution would have reduced payments for Charlene’s children. Where motions to reduce support payments are made and considered separately it may be understandable that a third party would not be made a party to the appeal. Here the motions were consolidated and the position of the parties was known and I believe Charlene should have been a party to this appeal and permitted to express her position on the issues.
I concur in the result reached by the majority opinion because it remands the matter to the trial court where, presumably, Charlene will again have the opportunity to participate in a redetermination of Gary’s child support obligation and to appeal the judgment containing that determination or be a party to any appeal from that judgment by any other party.