Automated Summary
Key Facts
In August 2019, Darla Carpenter was awarded one-half of Talesha Sams' Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) account via a final divorce order to be divided by a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). Sams filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in July 2021, initiating an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362. A March 2022 settlement agreement required both parties to cooperate in executing the QDRO. In February 2024, a court commissioner issued a property division order effectuating the 2019 divorce terms. Sams filed a motion to revise the order on June 7, 2024, over 10 days after the commissioner's initial decision, which was denied as untimely. She appealed on July 3, 2024, but the court dismissed the appeal as exceeding the 30-day deadline under RAP 5.2(a).
Issues
- The primary issue was whether Talesha Sams' motion to revise a court commissioner's property division order was untimely. The court concluded under RCW 2.24.050 that the 10-day deadline to file a motion to revise starts when the commissioner's order is entered, even if supporting findings and conclusions are filed later. Sams' motion, filed 107 days after the order, was deemed untimely.
- The second issue concerned whether the court commissioner's February 2024 order violated the automatic stay in Sams' chapter 13 bankruptcy. The appellate court declined to address this, noting the matter must be resolved by the bankruptcy court that issued the stay, and cited 11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(2)(A)(iv) as potentially controlling.
Holdings
- The trial court correctly determined that Sams' motion to revise the court commissioner's order was untimely, as the 10-day deadline under RCW 2.24.050 applies from the entry of the order, not the findings and conclusions. Sams failed to file within the required timeframe, leading to the order becoming final.
- Sams' appeal was dismissed as untimely because it was filed on July 3, 2024, more than 30 days after the February 20, 2024, order. According to RAP 5.2(a), this results in dismissal without reviewing the merits.
Remedies
We affirm the trial court's determination that Sams' motion to revise was untimely, and we dismiss her challenge of the court commissioner's property division order.
Legal Principles
- The 10-day deadline for filing a motion to revise a court commissioner's order under RCW 2.24.050 is strictly enforced, regardless of when findings and conclusions are entered. The statute explicitly states that failure to meet this deadline results in the order becoming final and appealable only through an untimely appeal process.
- The court deferred the determination of whether the commissioner's order violated the bankruptcy stay to the bankruptcy court, emphasizing that substantive issues related to the stay's enforcement require specialized jurisdiction rather than appellate review.
Precedent Name
- Schaefco, Inc. v. Columbia River Gorge Comm'n
- In re Marriage of Robertson
Cited Statute
- Washington Appellate Rules
- Revised Code of Washington
- Bankruptcy Code
Judge Name
- Lawrence-Berrey, C.J.
- Hill, J.
- Staab, J.
Passage Text
- We affirm the trial court's determination that Sams' motion to revise was untimely, and we dismiss her challenge of the court commissioner's property division order.2
- All of the acts and proceedings of court commissioners hereunder shall be subject to revision by the superior court. Such revision shall be upon the records of the case, and the findings of fact and conclusions of law entered by the court commissioner, and [1] unless a demand for revision is made within ten days from the entry of the order or judgment of the court commissioner, the orders and judgments shall be and become the orders and judgments of the superior court, and [2] appellate review thereof may be sought in the same fashion as review of like orders and judgments entered by the judge.
- We agree with the superior court judge that the 10-day deadline to file a motion to revise runs from the time the court commissioner's order is entered, even if supporting findings and conclusions are entered later.