IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
MAX D. DAVIS,1 §
§
Respondent Below, § No. 197, 2016
Appellant, §
§ Court Below—Family Court
v. § of the State of Delaware,
§
VALERIE M. DAVIS, § File No. CK16-01182
§ Petition No. 16-03058
Petitioner Below, §
Appellee. §
Submitted: September 9, 2016
Decided: November 14, 2016
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
This 14th day of November 2016, upon consideration of the parties’ briefs
and the record below, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The appellant, Max D. Davis (“the Father”), filed this appeal from the
Family Court’s March 18, 2016 order awarding the appellee, Valerie M. Davis
(“the Mother”), custody of the parties’ two children (“the Children”) under Family
Court Civil Rule 55. We conclude that the Family Court erred in entering a default
judgment against the Father. Accordingly, we reverse the Family Court’s
judgment.
1
The Court previously assigned pseudonyms to the parties under Supreme Court Rule 7(d).
(2) On February 4, 2016, the Mother filed a petition for custody of the
Children. The Mother sought an emergency ex parte order, which the Family
Court denied. On February 14, 2016, the Father was personally served with the
petition for custody at the address provided by the Mother.
(3) On February 23, 2016, the Family Court issued a mediation notice to
the Father at the address where he accepted service of the custody petition. The
mediation notice stated that a mediation hearing on the Mother’s custody petition
was scheduled for March 17, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. The notice warned that if the
Father failed to appear for the mediation hearing a default judgment might be
entered against him.
(4) On March 4, 2016, the Father filed an answer to the petition for
custody. The Father disputed the Mother’s allegations and sought fifty/fifty
custody of the Children. In the answer, the Father listed a different address than
the address where he was served with the petition for custody.
(5) On March 17, 2016, the Mother, but not the Father, appeared for the
mediation hearing. On March 18, 2016, the Family Court entered a default
judgment under Rule 55, awarded custody of the Children to the Mother, and
entered the visitation schedule provided by the Mother. This appeal followed.
(6) On appeal, the Father argues that the Family Court erred in entering a
default judgment against him because he did not receive notice of the mediation
2
hearing. We review the trial court’s entry of a default judgment for abuse of
discretion.2 “Delaware has a strong public policy that favors permitting a litigant a
right to a day in court.”3
(7) The Family Court entered default judgment against the Father after
finding that: (i) the Father was personally served with the petition for custody; (ii)
the mediation notice was sent to the address of service for the Father; (iii) the
mediation notice was not returned as undeliverable; and (iv) the Father failed to
appear at the mediation, despite proper service. The Family Court record,
however, contains an envelope with the mediation notice reflecting that the
mediation notice was returned to the Family Court as “Moved Left No Address,
Unable to Forward, Return to Sender.” The Father’s answer to the custody petition
also lists a different address than the address on the mediation notice.
(8) “[D]efault judgments are typically inappropriate when important
rights are at stake and there has been a lack of adequate notice to the party.” 4 The
record reflects that the Father did not receive the mediation notice. Under these
circumstances, we conclude that the Family Court abused its discretion in entering
a default judgment against the Father.
2
Gallagher v. Long, 2007 WL 3262150, at *2 (Del. Nov. 6, 2007).
3
Dishmon v. Fucci, 32 A.3d 338, 346 (Del. 2011).
4
Taylor v. Taylor, 102 A.3d 151, 153 (Del. 2014).
3
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Family
Court is REVERSED. The matter is hereby REMANDED to the Family Court for
further proceedings consistent with this order. Jurisdiction is not retained.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr.
Justice
4