Zel M. Fischer, Judge.
Kelly Blanchette appeals from the circuit court's judgment in favor of her former spouse, Steven Blanchette. The circuit court registered the couple's foreign judgment of dissolution and two subsequent judgments modifying custody visitation and support, all issued in West Virginia. The circuit court's judgment dismissed Kelly's motion to modify custody in St. Louis County, Missouri, for lack of jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). After opinion, the court of appeals transferred this case to this
The parties were residents of West Virginia when they had a son in November 2003 and were married in March 2004. Steven filed a petition for dissolution in Berkeley County, West Virginia, in February 2005. Shortly thereafter, and with the Berkeley County Family Court's consent, Kelly, then pregnant, and Son moved to Missouri, and the couple's daughter was born in St. Louis in July 2005.
In January 2006, the parties appeared before the Berkeley County court in person and by counsel and presented their settlement agreement, and related testimony as to all issues, for the court's approval. Relevant here, the Berkeley County court found that jurisdiction and venue were proper as to all matters contained in the petition (including custody, visitation, and support of both children), that both parties resided in West Virginia for more than a year preceding the filing of the dissolution petition, and that there were two children born of the marriage. There is no evidence in the record to suggest either party requested, or the court considered or contacted, St. Louis County as an alternative or preferable forum. The Berkeley County court entered judgment of dissolution, awarded Kelly "primary" physical custody of the children, and ordered Steven to pay child support of $1,500 per month. In 2008, Steven filed a motion to modify, seeking additional custodial time. At a hearing on that motion, Kelly appeared by telephone and by counsel, and the Berkeley County court granted Steven's motion.
In July 2013, after a custodial visit in West Virginia, Steven sent the children (then eight and nine years old) back to Missouri via commercial airliner unaccompanied, over Kelly's vehement protest. On September 6, 2013, Kelly filed in St. Louis County a petition to register the West Virginia dissolution judgment and first modification, combined with a motion to modify the existing parenting plan to require Steven to accompany the children on air travel for visitations. Around the same time, Steven filed in Berkeley County another motion to modify, seeking to increase his custodial time from one week to six weeks in the summer. Kelly received notice of a hearing on that motion on September 30, eight days before the scheduled date of the hearing. She did not request a continuance and did not appear at the hearing in any manner. In October 2013, the Berkeley County court granted Steven's motion, awarded him six consecutive custodial weeks in the summer, and specified that Kelly could either allow the children to fly unaccompanied or pay half the cost of the accompanying parent's airfare. The order also reduced Steven's child support obligation to $947 per month to reflect the shift in custodial time.
Kelly asked the St. Louis County court not to register this latest West Virginia modification but to grant her proposed modification instead. Steven responded with a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction under the UCCJEA. After extensive briefing and argument, the circuit court issued its judgment registering all three West Virginia judgments (i.e., the original dissolution decree and two subsequent modifications) and dismissing Kelly's competing motion to modify for lack of jurisdiction because West Virginia retained exclusive continuing jurisdiction. The circuit court explained:
The UCCJEA states in pertinent part:
Kelly appeals and asserts the circuit court erred by: (1) registering the foreign judgments as to Daughter because she has always resided in Missouri, so West Virginia lacked subject matter jurisdiction as to her custody, and (2) giving full faith and credit to the second modification because Kelly did not receive adequate notice of the hearing.
A circuit court's decision whether to register a foreign judgment is a legal conclusion, so this Court's review is de novo. Peoples Bank v. Frazee, 318 S.W.3d 121, 127 (Mo. banc 2010). Whether Missouri has jurisdiction to determine custody under the UCCJEA is also a legal question this Court reviews de novo. Id. The circuit court's judgment will be affirmed unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the
In a proceeding to register a foreign judgment, there is a strong presumption the rendering court had jurisdiction and entered a valid judgment, and the party asserting the invalidity of the foreign judgment has the burden of overcoming the presumption of jurisdiction and validity. Peoples Bank, 318 S.W.3d at 127.
As a preliminary matter, Steven urges this Court to dismiss Kelly's appeal on the theory that Kelly is not an "aggrieved" party under § 512.020
Kelly contends the Berkeley County court lacked subject matter jurisdiction as to Daughter because Missouri is Daughter's home state, making the West Virginia custody orders void as to her. Typically, collateral attacks on final judgments are impermissible, but this rule does not apply when the original judgment was void. La Presto v. La Presto, 285 S.W.2d 568, 570 (Mo.1955). A judgment is void if the issuing court "did not have jurisdiction over the parties, over the subject matter, or in some rare instances where due process rights have been violated." In re Expungement of Arrest Records Related to Brown v. State, 226 S.W.3d 147, 150 (Mo. banc 2007). Subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived or conferred by consent of the parties. Hightower v. Myers, 804 S.W.3d 727, 733 (Mo. banc 2010). It can be raised "at anytime by any party or court, even in a collateral or subsequent proceeding." Id. Consequently, despite Kelly's participation in the dissolution and first modification proceedings in Berkeley County, this Court will review the merits of her challenge to them now.
In both West Virginia and Missouri, child custody jurisdiction (or authority) is governed by the UCCJEA. Relevant to the Berkeley County court's jurisdiction in the underlying case, West Virginia Code § 48-20-201 provides:
A child's home state is defined as follows:
W. Va.Code § 48-20-102(g).
Kelly argues the Berkeley County court lacked jurisdiction to determine custody of Daughter because Daughter's home state is Missouri. But jurisdiction under the UCCJEA attaches when a custody proceeding commences, i.e., when the first pleading is filed. W. Va.Code § 48-20-102(e); see also In re K.R., 735 S.E.2d at 893 n. 22 (recognizing that jurisdiction under the UCCJEA is determined at the time of the commencement of a child custody proceeding). In this case, the first pleading was filed when Steven submitted his dissolution petition to the Berkeley County court in February 2005. Clearly, the court acquired jurisdiction to determine custody of Son at that time. Though neither party suggests the UCCJEA confers jurisdiction over fetuses (and courts in sister states have held that it does not — see, e.g., Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. v. Cox, 349 Ark. 205, 82 S.W.3d 806, 812-13 (2002)), logically any dissolution action involving minor children must necessarily determine custody of all children of the marriage, including those born after the initial filing.
The second and third bases for UCCJEA jurisdiction may have required the Missouri court to have declined jurisdiction on the ground that West Virginia was the more appropriate forum.
Kelly contends the St. Louis County circuit court should not have granted full faith and credit to the Berkeley County court's second custody modification because she received inadequate notice of the modification hearing. Under Article IV, § 1 of the United States Constitution and 28 U.S.C. § 1738, Missouri is required to give full faith and credit to judicial proceedings in other states unless there was: (1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter; (2) failure to give due notice to the defendant; or (3) fraud in the procurement of the judgment. In re Storment, 873 S.W.2d 227, 230 (Mo. banc 1994).
Under the UCCJEA, persons living outside the forum state can be served in accordance with the laws of either the forum state or the state where service is made. W. Va.Code § 48-20-108(a); § 452.762.1, RSMo. Notice must be given in a manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice. W. Va.Code § 48-20-108(a); § 452.762.1, RSMo. Kelly argues she was entitled to 30 days' notice under both West Virginia and Missouri rules of civil procedure, specifically W. Va. Rules Civ. Proc. Rule 4(f) and Mo. Rule 55.25. Steven counters that those rules only govern initial complaints and responsive pleadings and do not apply to subsequent modification proceedings. He asserts, rather, that eight days' notice is sufficient under the rules governing service on motion hearings, specifically W. Va. Rules Civ. Proc. Rule 6(d) (requiring seven days' notice by personal service or nine days' notice by mail).
But West Virginia's enactment of the UCCJEA does not contain this procedural clarification, and this Court's own research has uncovered no clear directive on the matter.
Kelly was no stranger to the Berkeley County Family Court. She was a West Virginia resident when the divorce action commenced, she appeared in person and by counsel at the original hearing, and she appeared telephonically and by counsel in the first modification. Kelly was previously served in accord with the rules of West Virginia and had the opportunity to participate in the hearing telephonically or at the very least to request a continuance. She did neither and elected not to appear at all. Additionally, Kelly has not moved to set aside the second order of modification or appealed it in West Virginia. Given these particular facts, this Court determines Kelly received reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard sufficient to satisfy due process.
Steven's motion to dismiss is overruled. The circuit court did not err in recognizing and registering the original judgment and both subsequent judgments modifying custody, visitation and support; therefore, the judgment is affirmed.
All concur.