PURSLEY V. PURSLEY
FAMILY LAW: Custody Modification; Exceptions to Commissioner’s Report
2007-CA-000363
PUBLISHED: VACATING AND REMANDING
PANEL: TAYLOR PRESIDING; KELLER, HENRY CONCUR
COUNTY: MARSHALL
DATE RENDERED: 11/21/2007
Dad appealed Family Court’s order modifying joint custody of Daughter to sole custody with Mom, and restricting Dad’s visitation to weekly supervised visitation. Dad alleged that Circuit Court erred by treating the Exceptions he filed as a Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate and by transferring the case to Family Court.
When Daughter was ten, Mom and Dad divorced and agreed upon joint custody with equal time sharing of Daughter. Two years later, Mom alleged that Dad had engage in inappropriate sexual relations with Daughter and moved for sole custody. The matter was heard by a Domestic Relations Commissioner (“DRC”), who recommended sole custody to Mom with weekly supervised visitation by Dad. Dad timely filed Exceptions to the DRC’s recommendations. Circuit Court entered an Order that it would treat the Exceptions as a Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate pursuant to CR 59.05 DRC’s recommendation and transfer the case to Family Court. DRC had been elected as Family Court Judge, and in that capacity, he subsequently denied the Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate. Dad appealed.
CA agreed with Dad. Regarding the Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate, CA noted that a CR 59.05 motion may only be utilized to seek reconsideration of a “final judgment.” The recommended order of a DRC is not a final judgment, but, rather, a recommendation utilized by the circuit court in reaching a final decision, thus the Motion to Alter, Amend or Vacate was not available at that stage of the proceedings. Considering the procedural posture of this case, CA believed the circuit court should have simply reviewed the exceptions, conducted a hearing, and entered a final judgment adjudicating the child custody issue.
As to Dad’s contention that the case should not have been transferred to Family Court, CA noted that while the family court was vested with jurisdiction over domestic issues by Ky. Const., § 112(6) and KRS 23A.100, such jurisdiction was not intended to be exclusive. Rather, the circuit court may, in some circumstances, retain jurisdiction to rule on domestic issues already before it, such as child custody. CA found that this case presented a unique circumstance where the circuit court should have retained jurisdiction and not referred it to Family Court since DRC conducted the proceedings, including an evidentiary hearing pursuant to CR 53.
Mom argued that Dad did not preserve issues for appeal, but CA stated that the gravity of errors claimed was one of substantial proportions, and pursuant to CR 61.02 this error may be considered by CA and the appropriate relief may be granted upon a determination that manifest injustice resulted from the error. CA noted that such an injustice had occurred, because “in a child custody proceeding, there can be no greater injustice to a party than a court failing to comply with applicable statutes and civil rules.
