No. 14691
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
1979
IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF
LAURA SCHULTZ,
Petitioner and Respondent,
-vs-
JOHNNIE SCHULTZ,
Respondent and Appellant.
Appeal from: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District,
Honorable C. B. Sande, Judge presiding.
Counsel of Record:
For Appellant:
Mouat and Martinson, Billings, Montana
Craig D. Martinson argued, Billings, Montana
For Respondent:
Ralph Herriott argued, Billings, Montana
Submitted: September 17, 1979
Decided: f4Q3\; 1 3 1979
$t"-.'
Filed :::
'
. y-.-,-
t-
, - -J
, A O
Mr. J u s t i c e John Conway H a r r i s o n d e l i v e r e d t h e Opinion of
t h e Court.
I n c i d e n t a l t o a d e c r e e of m a r i t a l d i s s o l u t i o n , t h e
Yellowstone County D i s t r i c t C o u r t awarded c u s t o d y of t h r e e
minor c h i l d r e n t o t h e i r mother. The d e c r e e r e c i t e d t h a t b o t h
p a r e n t s w e r e f i t and p r o p e r p e r s o n s t o be g r a n t e d c u s t o d y b u t
t h a t t h e b e s t i n t e r e s t s of t h e c h i l d r e n d i c t a t e d m a t e r n a l
custody .
Approximately a y e a r and a h a l f a f t e r t h e d e c r e e , t h e
mother was s e r i o u s l y i n j u r e d i n a n a u t o m o b i l e a c c i d e n t and
confined t o a h o s p i t a l . The c h i l d r e n w e r e c a r e d f o r by a
m a t e r n a l a u n t and grandmother. Some f i v e weeks a f t e r t h e
a c c i d e n t , t h e mother d i e d .
Following h e r d e a t h , t h e f a t h e r r e q u e s t e d c u s t o d y o f
t h e c h i l d r e n from t h e grandmother and a u n t . The r e q u e s t was
d e n i e d , and t h e f a t h e r f i l e d a motion f o r an o r d e r t o show
c a u s e why he s h o u l d n o t be a l l o w e d immediate c u s t o d y . Hours
l a t e r , t h e m a t e r n a l a u n t and h e r husband f i l e d a p e t i t i o n f o r
appointment a s guardians of t h e c h i l d r e n . The D i s t r i c t C o u r t ,
by e x p a r t e o r d e r , a p p o i n t e d t h e a u n t and u n c l e temporary
g u a r d i a n s and s e t a d a t e f o r h e a r i n g t h e p e t i t i o n . The
f a t h e r then p e t i t i o n e d f o r a w r i t of habeas corpus, request-
i n g immediate c u s t o d y of t h e c h i l d r e n . The g u a r d i a n s h i p and
h a b e a s c o r p u s p e t i t i o n s w e r e c o n s o l i d a t e d by s t i p u l a t i o n and
t h e m a t t e r was h e a r d by t h e Yellowstone County ~ i s t r i c t
C o u r t , t h e Honorable C. B. Sande p r e s i d i n g w i t h o u t a j u r y .
The h e a r i n g was termed " a f u l l h e a r i n g . . . on the matter
o f c u s t o d y and a s t o whether o r n o t t h e minor c h i l d r e n had
been abused and a r e d e p e n d e n t and n e g l e c t e d . "
The D i s t r i c t C o u r t found t h a t t h e c h i l d r e n w e r e depen-
d e n t and n e g l e c t e d and concluded t h e i r b e s t i n t e r e s t s would
be s e r v e d by g r a n t i n g c u s t o d y t o t h e a u n t and u n c l e . The
c o u r t e n t e r e d a n o r d e r t o t h a t e f f e c t , and t h e f a t h e r a p p e a l s .
W e hold t h e D i s t r i c t Court w a s without j u r i s d i c t i o n t o
a c t a s it d i d . Accordingly, i t s o r d e r i s vacated.
S e c t i o n 40-6-221, MCA, p r o v i d e s :
". . . I f e i t h e r p a r e n t be dead o r u n a b l e o r
r e f u s e s t o t a k e t h e c u s t o d y o r h a s abandoned
h i s o r her famil- , t h e o t h e r i s e n t i t l e d t o
y
t h e c u s t o d y , s e r v i c e s , and e a r n i n g s o f t h e
child. "
Under t h i s s e c t i o n , t h e f a t h e r a u t o m a t i c a l l y assumed t h e r i g h t
t o c u s t o d y of t h e c h i l d r e n a t t h e moment of t h e m o t h e r ' s d e a t h .
I n Henderson v. Henderson (1977) , Mont. , 568 P.2d
177, 179, 34 St.Rep. 942, 944, t h i s C o u r t a t t r i b u t e d g r e a t
w e i g h t t o t h e p a r e n t a l r i g h t of c u s t o d y and e q u a t e d i t w i t h
a c t u a l physical custody. W do n o t d e p a r t from t h e r u l e i n
e
t h i s decision.
I n Henderson we s t a t e d : "If a n o n p a r e n t ( a g r a n d p a r e n t
o r a n a u n t o r a n u n c l e , p e r h a p s ) wants t o a c q u i r e c u s t o d y , he
must commence p r o c e e d i n g s under ... the typical Juvenile
C o u r t Act." 568 P.2d a t 181, 34 St.Rep. a t 947, q u o t i n g
Comment, 9 Uniform Laws Annotated, M a r r i a g e and Divorce A c t ,
8401, p . 504. I n M a t t e r of G u a r d i a n s h i p of Doney ( 1 9 7 7 ) ,
Mont . , 570 P.2d 575, 577, 34 S t - R e p . 1107, 1109-1110,
w e held:
"A j u d i c i a l h e a r i n g and f i n d i n g of dependency
and n e g l e c t under [ T i t l e 4 1 , C h a p t e r 3, MCA],
o r j u d i c i a l f i n d i n g of w i l l f u l abandonment o r
w i l l f u l n o n s u p p o r t under s e c t i o n [40-8-111,
MCA], a r e t h e e x c l u s i v e means by which a
n a t u r a l p a r e n t may be i n v o l u n t a r i l y d e p r i v e d
of c u s t o d y o f h i s c h i l d r e n . I n t h e absence
of such showing, t h e n a t u r a l p a r e n t i s l e g a l l y
e n t i t l e d t o t h e c u s t o d y of h i s minor c h i l d r e n .
S e c t i o n [40-6-221, MCA] " .
The r e a s o n i n g i n Doney m e r i t s r e p e a t i n g :
"Where a c h i l d h a s a l l e g e d l y been abused o r
n e g l e c t e d by h i s n a t u r a l p a r e n t , t h e s t a t e
h a s a c l e a r d u t y t o p r o t e c t t h e c h i l d by
means o f a j u d i c i a l h e a r i n g t o d e t e r m i n e whe-
t h e r t h e y o u t h i s i n f a c t abused o r n e g l e c t e d .
There a r e , however, few i n v a s i o n s by t h e s t a t e
i n t o t h e p r i v a c y of t h e i n d i v i d u a l t h a t a r e
more extreme t h a n t h a t of d e p r i v i n g a n a t u r a l
p a r e n t o f t h e c u s t o d y o f h i s c h i l d r e n . For
t h i s r e a s o n , t h e l e g i s l a t u r e c a r e f u l l y enun-
c i a t e d t h e p r o c e d u r e s t h e s t a t e must f o l l o w
and t h e f i n d i n g s which t h e c o u r t must make
b e f o r e c u s t o d y o f a c h i l d may l e g a l l y be t a k e n
from a n a t u r a l p a r e n t . " 570 P.2d a t 577, 34
St.Rep. a t 1109.
Unless t h e s t a t u t e i s followed, t h e c o u r t i s without j u r i s -
d i c t i o n t o remove c u s t o d y . I n M a t t e r o f G u a r d i a n s h i p of
Aschenbrenner (1979) , Mont. , 597 P.2d 1156, 1163-
1164, 36 St.Rep. 1282, 1290-1291. The p r o c e d u r e s must be
r i g o r o u s l y followed. I n r e G u a r d i a n s h i p o f Evans ( 1 9 7 8 ) ,
Mont. , 587 P.2d 372, 376, 35 St.Rep. 1765, 1773.
No argument c a n be made t h a t t h e j u r i s d i c t i o n a l p r e -
r e q u i s i t e s were complied w i t h . The c o u n t y a t t o r n e y d i d n o t ,
a s r e q u i r e d by s e c t i o n 41-3-401(1), MCA, f i l e the petition.
The p e t i t i o n d i d n o t a l l e g e a b u s e , n e g l e c t o r dependency.
S e c t i o n s 41-3-401 (1) and 41-3-401 ( 9 ) ( a ) , MCA. The n a t u r a l
f a t h e r of t h e c h i l d r e n who had l e g a l c u s t o d y ( a s d i s c u s s e d
above) w a s n o t p e r s o n a l l y s e r v e d w i t h a copy o f t h e p e t i t i o n .
S e c t i o n 41-3-401(4), MCA. The Department o f S o c i a l and R e -
h a b i l i t a t i o n Services w a s not " c i t e d " t o t h e case. Section
41-3-401(8), MCA. The o r d e r of t h e c o u r t , e n t e r e d i n t h e
a b s e n c e of j u r i s d i c t i o n , i s void. S t a t e v. D i s t r i c t Court
( 1 9 2 6 ) , 75 Mont. 147, 242 P. 959.
I n view of t h e f a c t t h e D i s t r i c t C o u r t found t h a t t h e
c h i l d r e n w e r e abused and n e g l e c t e d , w e h e r e b y r e q u e s t t h e
Yellowstone County a t t o r n e y ' s o f f i c e t o c o n s i d e r a n a c t i o n
under t h e Dependency, N e g l e c t , and Abuse s t a t u t e . T i t l e 41,
S e c t i o n 3, Montana Code Annotated. U n t i l f u r t h e r o r d e r of
t h e D i s t r i c t C o u r t , t h e c h i l d r e n a r e t o remain w i t h t h e i r
a u n t and u n c l e .
7
We c o n c u r :
Chief J u s t i c e
I
' Justices 1
J