Opinion
DA 22-0558
01-25-2023
IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: EDWARD DANIEL ELDRIDGE, Petitioner and Appellee, and ANGELINA KATHRYN ELDRIDGE, Respondent and Appellant.
ORDER
Appellee Edward Eldridge moves to dismiss Appellant Angelina Eldridge's appeal in this case for failing to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure and for attempting to appeal anon-appealable order. Angelina, who is self-represented on appeal, has responded to the motion and objects to dismissal.
In September 2022, Angelina filed a notice of appeal of the Twenty-first Judicial District Court s August 23,2022 order adopting the Guardian ad Litem's recommendatinns as amendments to the Interim Parenting Plan the court previously had entered in the parties' marital dissolution case. The court ordered that the Interim Parenting Plan otherwise remain in effect with the newly ordered provisions regarding the minor children's residence and Angelina s supervised parenting time. The order further directed Angelina to undergo a psychological evaluation, upon completion of which Angelina could request the District Court to consider modifying the parenting schedule.
At the time Angelina filed her notice of appeal of the August orders the dissolution case remained pending. The trial court had conducted a bench trial on September 19,2022, and both parties had submitted their proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and dissolution decree. This Court initially rejected Angelina's opening brief on appeal for failure to include a certificate of service noting that she had served Edward's counsel. We issued another order on November 28,2022, addressing her failure to provide the Amended Certificate of Service and her obligation to order appropriate transcripts. Edward represents that Angelina has not filed the Amended Certificate of Service but acknowledges that she sent her Opening Brief to Edward's counsel, who received it on November 28. 2022. This Court's docket reflects that Angelina filed on December 2,2022, a corrected notice of appeal and Request for Production of Transcripts, which her certificates of service indicate she mailed directly to Edward but not to his lawyer.
Edward protests that Angelina's appeal of the August 2022 order is premature; that her apparent attempt to appeal separate orders regarding temporary orders of protection is either time-barred or-in the case of an order at issue in the dissolution matter-also premature; and that even if the Court accepts her appeal, it is impossible for Edward to prepare and file an Answer Brief unless Angelina submits a brief in compliance with the rules and transcripts are prepared. In the alternative, Edward requests that the appellate briefing schedule be vacated until Angelina shows compliance with the required appellate rules.
Having reviewed the procedural posture of the case, the order Angelina appealed, and the parties filings, we conclude that Angelina's appeal is premature. With specified exceptions that do not apply here, the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure permit appeals only from a final judgment in an action. M. R. App. P. 6(1). The dissolution case awaits final judgment, including a final parenting plan. The District Court's August 23,2022 order adopting amendments to the Interim Parenting Plan is not a final order. Angelina has the light to appeal the court's final judgment in the case after entry of the Dissolution Decree and Final Parenting Plan, if it is unfavorable to her.
IT IS TUI RI FORE ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED without prejudice to the parties right ol appeal from final orders and judgments in the marital dissolution case.
The Clerk ol this Court is directed to provide a copy of this Order to the Clerk of District Court for the Twenty-first Judicial District for filing in Ravalli County Cause No. DR-21-144; to counsel of record; and to Angelina Katheiyn Eldridge personally.