Jessica L. Tafoya v. Paul W. Tafoya

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed an order clarifying a divorce decree under W.R.C.P. 60(a). The court held that conflicting provisions concerning transportation costs for visitation created a patent ambiguity that could be clarified without modifying the decree. The clarified order provided that weekend visitation costs were borne by the visiting parent and other visitation transportation costs were shared.

Holdings

1. W.R.C.P. 60(a) permits a court to clarify an ambiguous judgment when clarification effectuates the contemporaneous intent of the court, even when the ambiguity is patent or latent and is not merely a mechanical transcription error.
2. The district court properly clarified, rather than substantively modified, the divorce decree by applying the Standard Visitation Order's allocation of transportation costs: the visiting parent bears weekend-visitation costs, and the parents share other visitation costs.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court had authority under W.R.C.P. 60(a) to clarify the ambiguity between the divorce decree and the incorporated Standard Visitation Order.
2. Whether the district court's order properly clarified the original decree or instead impermissibly modified it without a material change in circumstances or a timely motion under W.R.C.P. 59(e).

Disposition

affirmed