Michael Golden

In Durfee v. Durfee, a mother petitioned to modify the divorce decree to obtain primary physical custody of the couple's two children, while the father petitioned to increase her child support obligation. The district court denied the mother's request after finding no material change in circumstances since the original decree, granted the father's request to raise child support, and ordered the mother to pay half of the father's attorney fees and costs. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the mother failed to demonstrate a material change in circumstances sufficient to reopen the custody determination under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-204(c), as her improved personal situation was not substantial enough to overcome the interest in finality and her allegations against the father were unsupported or contradicted by the evidence. Because the custody ruling stood, the court found the mother's challenges to the support and fee orders moot.

family law

In Abitbol v. State, the Wyoming Supreme Court addressed consolidated appeals from two criminal cases involving drug possession, fraud, and related charges, where defendant Rhonda Abitbol challenged the presentence incarceration credit awarded in concurrent sentences. The court affirmed the judgment in one case (No. 16747) but reversed in the other (No. 16623), remanding for additional credit of seven days for time served between a bond revocation hearing and release. The reasoning focused on specific periods of custody tied to bond violations and revocations, finding that credit was due only for time after a hearing where the court had effectively continued detention, while denying credit for other intervals because Abitbol caused delays, violated bond conditions, or failed to establish a legal basis for credit related to Arizona custody or sentencing scheduling. The opinion emphasized that sentencing delays were not unreasonable and compared favorably to precedents allowing several months between plea and sentencing.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved the termination of BA's parental rights to her son FM by the Laramie County Department of Family Services following a neglect petition and the child's placement with relatives. The mother appealed the district court's termination order, challenging the lack of a guardian ad litem appointment for the child and the sufficiency of evidence supporting termination. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the order and remanded with directions to dismiss the petition, finding that the Department had not made reasonable efforts at reunification as required and that the evidence failed to clearly and convincingly establish the mother's present unfitness under the statute. The court applied strict scrutiny to the termination proceeding and noted deficiencies in case planning and compliance with statutory requirements.

family law

This case arose from a condemnation action by Rissler & McMurry Co. to obtain a surface easement across the Snodgrass property for road access to a limestone quarry on nearby state land. After Rissler dismissed the action prior to retrial, the trial court denied the landowners' motion for attorney fees based on alleged bad faith or lack of diligent prosecution, awarded costs to the landowners as the prevailing party, and denied Rissler's motion for costs. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the record contained no evidence of bad faith by Rissler and that the American rule on attorney fees applied absent such proof. The court further ruled that Rissler's offers of judgment were ineffective under W.R.C.P. 68 because they lacked a definite monetary sum or were untimely, while finding no abuse of discretion in awarding costs to Snodgrass.

propertyprocedure

In Coones v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., borrower James Coones sought damages from the FDIC, as receiver for a failed bank, claiming inadequate notice of the sale of repossessed collateral under the UCC and reimbursement for expenses incurred while preserving that collateral as a debtor-in-possession during his Chapter 11 bankruptcy. After prior proceedings barred the FDIC from obtaining a deficiency judgment due to the notice violation and remanded on other claims, the district court granted summary judgment to the FDIC on remand. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the absolute bar on deficiency recovery already provided the remedy for the notice failure under Wyo. Stat. § 34.1-9-507(a) and that further recovery would constitute impermissible double recovery; that an agister’s lien under Wyo. Stat. § 29-7-101 was unavailable to an owner for services on his own property; and that Coones failed to establish the elements of unjust enrichment. The core reasoning centered on equitable limits on statutory remedies, the scope of lien statutes, and the absence of cogent support for equitable claims.

business & regulatorypropertyprocedure

The case involved RM's challenge to a district court ruling that he was the presumed father of minor child STM under Wyoming's parentage statutes and that the state's action to declare the father-child relationship was timely filed, along with his claim that the court had not properly considered his custody rights on equal footing with the mother's. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's determinations in full. It held that the applicable limitations period under Wyo. Stat. § 14-2-104(a)(i) permits an action at any time to establish the father-child relationship for a man presumed to be the father, which applied because the child was conceived while RM was married to the mother and born within 300 days of the marriage's termination, and that retroactive application of such periods is constitutional. On custody, the court found that the child had lived with the mother for over ten years, RM had failed to meet support obligations, and RM presented no evidence supporting modification of the existing arrangements.

family law