SCOVT reverses denial of joint motion to modify final property division order; such relief is authorized in limited circumstances under Rule 60

Sandra L. Penland (Warren) v. John W. Warren, Jr., 2018 VT 70 

REIBER, C.J. Husband appeals the trial court’s denial of husband and wife’s joint motion to modify their final divorce order. The issue in this case is whether the trial court has jurisdiction under Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) to modify a property-division order based on the agreement of the parties after the divorce order has become absolute. We hold the court does have jurisdiction, and accordingly we reverse and remand.

The court declined to exercise its discretion because  it found, as a matter of law, that it lacked jurisdiction to modify the property division. Whether the court has authority to exercise its discretion is a legal issue that we review de novo.

Under Rule 60(b), “the court may relieve a party . . . from a final judgment, order, or proceeding” for several enumerated reasons, such as mistake, V.R.C.P. 60(b)(1), and fraud, V.R.C.P. 60(b)(3). Rule 60(b)(6) authorizes relief for “any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.” The subsection is available only where the other criteria under Rule 60(b) do not apply.

Rule 60(b)(6) is available and appropriately used to provide relief from a final property-division order where “extraordinary circumstances” justify relief “to prevent hardship or injustice.” Wilson v. Wilson, 2011 VT 133, ¶ 5, 191 Vt. 560, 38 A.3d 50 (mem.) (quotations omitted). This opportunity for relief applies to final property divisions in divorce orders as it does to other final orders and judgments. See id. ¶¶ 5-6 (affirming that court can modify divorce order under Rule 60(b)(6) only if there are “unusual circumstances” that “would warrant relief from a judgment generally” (quotations omitted))

In considering whether such circumstances exist here, the court should note that the parties have agreed to a stipulated modification. This is not a situation where one or both parties seek to continue litigation past its end. See Richwagen, 153 Vt. at 4, 568 A.2d at 421 (stating “the grounds for relief authorized under Rule 60(b)(6) are broad” but limited by need for “certainty and finality of judgments so that litigation can reach an end”). Rather, this situation is an attempt to respond in a mutually beneficial way to emerging circumstances. Although the court has discretion to decline to accept a stipulated modification, it is more likely that modification under Rule 60(b)(6) is appropriate where the parties have stipulated to an agreement.