J.J. v. R.R.

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Rel: 07/25/2014 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter. ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS SPECIAL TERM, 2014 _________________________ 2130411 _________________________ J.J. v. R.R. Appeal from Calhoun District Court (CS-10-292.02) THOMPSON, Presiding Judge. On June 27, 2012, R.R. ("the father") filed in the Calhoun District Court ("the district court"), a complaint seeking to modify a July 2010 judgment that had awarded J.J. ("the mother") primary physical custody of the parties' minor 2130411 child; the father also sought an award of pendente lite custody of the child.1 The July contained in the record on appeal. 2010 judgment is not On June 28, 2012, the district court entered an order granting the father pendente lite custody and suspending his child-support obligation. The mother answered, denied the material allegations of the father's complaint, and moved for a hearing on the issue of pendente lite custody. After conducting a hearing, the district court entered an order setting aside its earlier award of pendente lite custody to the father and reinstating his child-support obligation. The mother filed a counterclaim seeking to modify certain portions of the July 2010 judgment pertaining to visitation and seeking to have the father held in contempt for a failure to pay child support. The mother later moved to transfer the 1 Although each of the pleadings and motions filed and each of the orders entered in this action contains a style indicating that the document was filed in the "Circuit Court of Calhoun County," the case-action summary contained in the record on appeal clearly indicates that the action was filed in the district court and that the district court entered all orders in this action. The dates of the filings and orders entered on the case-action summary are the same as those entered in the State Judicial Information System. 2 2130411 action to the Talladega Circuit Court, but the district court denied that motion. On November 15, 2013, the district court entered a judgment in which it, among other things, granted the father's request to modify custody and awarded him primary physical custody of the parties' minor child. On December 13, 2013, the mother filed a purported postjudgment motion pursuant to Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P., and the district court entered an order purporting to deny that motion on January 13, 2014. The mother filed a notice of appeal to this court on February 14, 2014. As an initial matter, we note that this court may take notice of jurisdictional issues ex mero motu. Wallace v. Tee Jays Mfg. Co., 689 So. 2d 210, 211 (Ala. Civ. App. 1997); Nunn v. Baker, 518 So. 2d 711, 712 (Ala. 1987). designated as a ".02" action seeking judgment entered in a "CS" action. This action was modification of a This court has recognized that "CS" actions are juvenile-court actions and are to be governed by the Rules of Juvenile Procedure. [Ms. 2120327, Sept. 20, 2013] So. 3d , R.Z. v. S.W., (Ala. Civ. App. 2013); C.B. v. D.P.B., 80 So. 3d 918, 920 (Ala. Civ. App. 3 2130411 2011); see also R.P.M. v. P.D.A., 112 So. 3d 49, 51 (Ala. Civ. App. 2012) ("'Moreover, a case designated with a "CS" case number is considered a juvenile-court action, whether it is filed in a juvenile court or in a [family division of a] circuit court. See H.J.T. v. State ex rel. M.S.M., 34 So. 3d 1276, 1278 79 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009).'" (quoting C.W.S. v. C.M.P., 99 So. 3d 864, 866 n. 1 (Ala. Civ. App. 2012))). This court has explained: "[The] Rule 60(b)[, Ala. R. Civ. P.,] motions were filed in the family court of Jefferson County and docketed with a 'CS' number, which indicates a juvenile-court child-support matter. ... State ex rel. Provitt v. Coleman, 821 So. 2d 1015, 1019 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). For this reason, this proceeding is governed by the Rules of Juvenile Procedure instead of the Rules of Civil Procedure. C.D.W. v. State ex rel. J.O.S., 852 So. 2d 159 (Ala. Civ. App. 2002); R.H. v. J.H., 778 So. 2d 839 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000)." M.C. v. L.J.H., 868 So. 2d 465, 467 (Ala. Civ. App. 2003). The Rules of Juvenile Procedure require that a postjudgment motion be filed within 14 days of the entry of the judgment and provide that such a motion may remain pending only for 14 days. Rule 1(B), Ala. R. Juv. P. In this case, the mother filed her purported postjudgment motion well in excess of 14 days after the entry of the November 15, 2013, 4 2130411 judgment, and, therefore, it did not operate to extend the time in which she could file a timely notice of appeal. v. D.P.B., postjudgment supra. motion, In the the absence mother's of notice a timely of C.B. filed appeal was required to have been filed by November 29, 2013, i.e., within 14 days after the entry of the November 15, 2013, judgment. Rule 28(C), Ala. R. Juv. P.; Rule 4(a)(1), Ala. R. App. P. The mother's appeal was filed well after that date, and, therefore, the appeal was not timely filed; accordingly, we must dismiss the appeal. Rule 2(a)(1), Ala. R. App. P. ("An appeal shall be dismissed if the notice of appeal was not timely filed to invoke the jurisdiction of the appellate court."). APPEAL DISMISSED. Pittman, Thomas, Moore, and Donaldson, JJ., concur. 5

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