Sibley v. Sibley
Sibley v. Sibley
Opinion of the Court
Angela Sibley (“the wife”) appeals from a May 17, 2011, judgment of the Russell Circuit Court (“the trial court”) purporting to amend a divorce judgment entered on October 18, 2010.
The procedural facts pertinent to this appeal show that Lance Sibley (“the husband”) filed a complaint for a divorce from the wife on August 13, 2009. The wife filed an answer and a counterclaim on August 18, 2009. After entering several interim orders and holding a trial on the matter, the trial court entered a final judgment on September 28, 2010; that judgment had been prepared by the wife’s attorney. On October 1, 2010, the wife filed a motion seeking to vacate the September 28, 2010, judgment because it had been submitted by her attorney in error. The trial court entered a corrected judgment on October 18, 2010 (“the divorce judgment”).
On November 17, 2010, the husband filed a motion to amend the divorce judgment, arguing, among other things, that the trial court had erred in determining the amount of the health-insurance premiums the husband should pay on behalf of the wife. On December 2, 2010, the trial court denied that motion in part, but it ordered that a hearing on the health-insurance issue would be held on January 14, 2011. On December 14, 2010, the husband filed an “Amended Motion/Motion for Rule Nisi.” In that motion, the husband argued for the first time that the child-custody, visitation, and property-division provisions of the divorce judgment should be altered and that a new provision relating to the parties’ joint bank account should be added. The husband further alleged that the wife had contemptuously violated the trial court’s judgment insofar as it ordered the wife not to harass the husband or his coworkers. On January 11, 2011, the wife filed an “Answer & Counterclaim” in which she argued that the divorce judgment should not be amended as requested by the husband but that the visitation and property-division provisions of the judgment should, nevertheless, be amended. The wife also sought to hold the husband in contempt based on his alleged violation of several provisions of the divorce judgment.
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the trial court had lost jurisdiction to enter the May 17, 2011, judgment, pursuant to Rule 59.1, Ala. R. Civ. P., which provides that certain postjudgment motions that remain pending for 90 days are deemed denied by operation of law on the 90th day and that a trial court thereafter loses jurisdiction to rule on such motions. See, e.g., Ex parte Davidson, 782 So.2d 287, 241 (Ala. 2000).
The record reflects that the husband filed his first postjudgment motion on November 17, 2010, and that he amended that motion on December 14, 2010.
A judgment that has been rendered void by operation of Rule 59.1 may be set aside on a motion filed with the trial court under Rule 60(b)(4), Ala. R. Civ. P. See Ex parte R.S.C., 853 So.2d 228, 233 (Ala.Civ.App. 2002). In the event a trial court refuses to vacate a void judgment upon proper motion, an aggrieved party may appeal that denial. See Weaver v. Weaver, 4 So.3d 1171, 1172 (Ala.Civ.App. 2008). Our supreme court has also recognized that, in appropriate circumstances, a petition for a writ of mandamus will issue to direct a trial court to vacate any orders entered on a postjudgment motion after that motion has been denied by operation of law pursu
APPEAL DISMISSED.
. The wife does not contend that the amended motion constituted an impermissible successive postjudgment motion. See, e.g., Hudson v. Hudson, 963 So.2d 92, 94 (Ala.Civ.App. 2007). This court will not sua sponte address that issue because it is not necessary for us to do so in order to decide the appeal.
. Because it is not necessary for us to do so in order to decide the appeal, this court does not address the timeliness of the wife’s post-judgment motion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.