Strobel v. Rosier ( 2018 )


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  •                       NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION.
    UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL
    AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.
    IN THE
    ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS
    DIVISION ONE
    JEFFREY STROBEL, Petitioner/Appellee,
    v.
    GAIL ROSIER, Respondent/Appellant,
    __________________________________
    STATE OF ARIZONA, ex rel., DEPARTMENT OF
    ECONOMIC SECURITY, Intervenor/Appellee.
    No. 1 CA-CV 16-0644 FC
    FILED 10-18-2018
    Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County
    No. FC2012-001202
    The Honorable Paul J. McMurdie, Judge
    AFFIRMED
    COUNSEL
    Baskin Richards PLC, Phoenix
    By William A. Richards, David E. Wood
    Counsel for Petitioner/Appellee
    Horne Law PLLC, Phoenix
    By Mark W. Horne
    Counsel for Respondent/Appellant
    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    MEMORANDUM DECISION
    Presiding Judge Michael J. Brown delivered the decision of the Court, in
    which Judge Jennifer B. Campbell and Chief Judge Samuel A. Thumma
    joined.
    B R O W N, Judge:
    ¶1           Gail Rosier (“Mother”) challenges the superior court’s ruling
    confirming the validity of a registered order enforcing New Hampshire
    child support arrearage orders. For the following reasons, we affirm.
    BACKGROUND
    ¶2             Jeffrey Strobel (“Father”) obtained child support arrearage
    orders in New Hampshire, where he lives with the parties’ now adult child.
    Father sought to enforce the New Hampshire orders in Arizona. In early
    2012, the Arizona Department of Economic Security (“ADES”) filed a notice
    of registration and petition to enforce support, asking the superior court to
    enter a judgment against Mother for $202,500 for past due child support.
    The New Hampshire orders in question are the product of a complicated
    procedural dispute, summarized as follows.
    ¶3            The parties’ marriage was dissolved in 1996 pursuant to a
    Dominican Republic divorce decree that did not include an order for child
    support. In 2006, Father and the child lived in New Hampshire, and Mother
    lived in Arizona. Mother filed a petition to register the divorce decree in
    New Hampshire and establish a parenting plan, which resulted in a July
    2006 order registering the decree and establishing long-distance visitation.
    This order did not include any child support provisions.
    ¶4             In 2008, Father filed a motion to clarify, which essentially
    requested a child support order. Father alleged the parties agreed in 1997
    that Mother would save for college instead of paying child support, and in
    the 2006 proceedings, she admitted in her financial affidavit that she held
    an interest in real property valued at $150,000 for that specific purpose.1 As
    1      Later, Mother asserted she made a clerical error in her financial
    affidavit, and that the value of her interest in the real property was actually
    $105,000.
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    a result, the New Hampshire court entered an order in March 2009 (“March
    2009 Order”) directing Mother to immediately liquidate the real property
    being held for the child’s education expenses and place the funds in an
    appropriate account. The court stated that although there had never been
    a child support order entered, it specifically considered and found it had
    jurisdiction over Mother “to establish, enforce, or modify a support order
    pursuant to [New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (“R.S.A.”)
    section] 546-B:3 II, III, and IV,” and that the parties’ 1997 agreement was
    valid and enforceable. Mother was not present at the hearing and the court
    found she was in default.
    ¶5             When Mother failed to provide an accounting as ordered,
    Father filed a petition for contempt in July 2009, asking the New Hampshire
    court to enter an order specifying that Mother owed $105,000 in past child
    support. In a letter to the court dated December 8, 2009, Mother stated she
    was incarcerated in Arizona and could not appear at the contempt hearing
    set for December 22, 2009, until after she was released and received
    permission to travel from her parole officer. On December 22, 2009, the
    court granted Mother’s request and continued the hearing to March 9, 2010.
    However, the court also granted Father’s proposed order “on an ex parte
    basis” and found Mother in contempt of the March 2009 Order to pay child
    support.
    ¶6            In a subsequent letter, Mother informed the New Hampshire
    court she could not afford to attend the March 9, 2010 hearing and asked to
    appear telephonically. Mother also stated her late husband’s assets were
    subject to probate litigation and she could not liquidate the real property.
    ¶7            On March 9, 2010, the New Hampshire court entered an order
    (“2010 Arrearage Order”) finding Mother in contempt for failing to pay
    child support and ordered an immediate payment of $25,000. The court
    found Mother owed $202,500 in child support arrearages plus interest and
    ordered Mother to reimburse Father for a $7,500 inheritance her late
    husband left for the child that “she spent.” The 2010 Arrearage Order
    included a payment schedule indicating Mother owed $105,000 in back
    child support as of March 1, 2010, payable immediately or pursuant to a
    payment schedule that added $10,000 a year, up to and including March 1,
    2020 for a total of $205,000 in back child support. The New Hampshire
    court issued a corresponding Uniform Support Order (“USO”) for child
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    support arrearages of $202,500 as of October 31, 2009, which included the
    payment schedule.2
    ¶8           Shortly thereafter, Father moved to clarify the USO to require
    that Mother make consistent monthly payments. In June 2010, the New
    Hampshire court issued an amended USO (“June 2010 USO”) ordering
    Mother to pay child support arrearages of $202,500 at the rate of $10,000 per
    month. The June 2010 USO did not include the payment schedule attached
    to Father’s motion to clarify.
    ¶9            Father, with the assistance of ADES, sought to enforce the
    June 2010 USO in Arizona. In response to the Arizona petition to enforce,
    Mother claimed the New Hampshire orders were issued ex parte, in
    violation of her due process rights and without any legal basis. Mother
    admitted she was served with unspecified papers regarding the New
    Hampshire motions while incarcerated but stated she was in no position to
    respond financially or emotionally. Mother informed the Arizona court
    that a hearing on her motion to vacate the New Hampshire orders was
    pending, which resulted in a continuance of the hearing in Arizona pending
    a resolution of Mother’s New Hampshire motion to vacate.
    ¶10          In May 2014, after briefing and oral argument, the New
    Hampshire court found no basis for vacating the existing orders,
    concluding that the June 2010 USO “is an enforceable order on a child
    support arrearage.” The New Hampshire Supreme Court declined
    Mother’s notice of appeal.3
    ¶11          Back in Arizona, Mother raised several defenses to
    enforcement pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) section
    25-1307 and the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act, 28
    United States Code (“U.S.C.”) section 1738B. ADES took no position on
    Mother’s request to vacate the registration or enforcement. Father argued
    Mother was precluded from seeking relief from enforcement under the
    2    Mother claimed she first received the 2010 Arrearage Order on
    November 11, 2013, after appearing in court in Arizona.
    3      As the New Hampshire Supreme Court explained, pursuant to “Rule
    7(1)(B), the supreme court may decline to accept a notice of discretionary
    appeal from the superior or circuit court. No appeal, however, is declined
    except by unanimous vote of the court with at least three justices
    participating.”
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    doctrines of res judicata, the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United
    States Constitution, and 28 U.S.C. § 1738B.
    ¶12          After an evidentiary hearing, the Arizona superior court
    found Mother failed to establish a defense to enforcement under A.R.S.
    § 25-1307(A) and confirmed the registration of the New Hampshire
    arrearage orders. We have jurisdiction over Mother’s timely appeal
    pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-2101(A)(1).
    DISCUSSION
    ¶13            To contest the validity or enforcement of the New Hampshire
    orders, Mother has the burden of proving the orders were not entitled to
    full faith and credit or establishing one of the defenses recognized in A.R.S.
    § 25-1307(A), which is part of Arizona’s version of the Uniform Interstate
    Family Support Act. Judgments rendered in a particular state shall be given
    the same full faith and credit by the courts of every other state “as the
    judgment would be accorded in the rendering state.” Phares v. Nutter, 
    125 Ariz. 291
    , 293 (1980). “But foreign judgments may be attacked if the
    rendering court lacked jurisdiction over the person or subject matter, the
    judgment was obtained through lack of due process, the judgment was the
    result of extrinsic fraud, or if the judgment was invalid or unenforceable.”
    
    Id.
     Whether a foreign judgment is entitled to full faith and credit is a
    question of law that we review de novo. Grynberg v. Shaffer, 
    216 Ariz. 256
    ,
    257, ¶ 5 (App. 2007).
    A.     Subject Matter Jurisdiction
    ¶14            Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1738B(c)(1)(A), a foreign support
    order is entitled to full faith and credit if the issuing court had subject matter
    jurisdiction to hear the matter and enter the order and had personal
    jurisdiction over the parties. “[A] duly authenticated judgment of a court
    of general jurisdiction of a sister state is prima facie evidence of that court’s
    jurisdiction to render it and of the right which it purports to adjudicate.”
    Lofts v. Superior Court, 
    140 Ariz. 407
    , 411 (1984). Mother asserts the New
    Hampshire court did not have subject matter jurisdiction (1) to enforce the
    agreement to pay college expenses as a child support order, or (2) to enter
    an arrearage order when there was no prior child support order.
    ¶15           Mother characterizes these arguments as challenges to the
    New Hampshire court’s subject matter jurisdiction; however, her
    arguments are based on the correctness of the rulings under applicable New
    Hampshire law. Subject matter jurisdiction “refers to a court’s statutory or
    constitutional power to hear and determine a particular case.” In re
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    Marriage of Thorn, 
    235 Ariz. 216
    , 220, ¶ 17 (App. 2014) (quoting State v.
    Maldonado, 
    223 Ariz. 309
    , 311, ¶ 14 (2010)). Allegations of legal error do not
    constitute a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In Estes v. Superior Court, our
    supreme court “distinguished ’the right of a court to misconstrue the law
    measuring the rights of the parties . . . [from] the right of a court to
    misconstrue a statute or law from which jurisdiction or power of the court
    flows—a jurisdictional law.’” Estes v. Superior Court, 
    137 Ariz. 515
    , 517
    (1983) (quoting Ariz. Pub. Serv. Co. v. S. Union Gas Co., 
    76 Ariz. 373
    , 382
    (1954)). “Misinterpreting a procedural matter amounts to legal error which
    may result in reversal by an appellate court, but subject matter jurisdiction
    remains unaffected by the misinterpretation.” 
    Id.
     Allegations that the New
    Hampshire orders were improperly based on a contract, instead of child
    support guidelines, and were not based on a prior child support order,
    constitute assertions of legal error, not a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
    ¶16            Even assuming Mother is challenging more than the
    correctness of the New Hampshire court’s rulings, she has failed to
    establish that the arrearage orders are void for lack of subject matter
    jurisdiction. Relying on In re Goulart, 
    965 A.2d 1068
    , 1071 (N.H. 2009),
    Mother argues that “New Hampshire courts are without subject matter
    jurisdiction to issue or enforce any order for the payment of college
    expenses.” In Goulart, the parents stipulated to inclusion of a provision for
    payment of college expenses in the anticipated divorce decree,
    notwithstanding a statutory provision that prohibited such an order. 
    Id.
     at
    1070 (citing R.S.A. 461–A:14, V (“No child support order shall require a
    parent to contribute to an adult child's college expenses or other
    educational expenses beyond the completion of high school.”)). The New
    Hampshire Supreme Court held that the family court lacked subject matter
    jurisdiction to approve a parenting plan or issue an order requiring a parent
    to pay an adult child's college education expenses and a parent’s “’waiver’
    could not confer subject matter jurisdiction where it did not exist; and any
    such orders were void.” 
    Id. at 1071
    . The New Hampshire arrearage orders
    in this case, although based on the parties’ 1997 agreement, do not require
    Mother to contribute to her son’s “college expenses or other educational
    expenses” and thus the orders do not fall within the plain language of the
    statute at issue in Goulart. See 
    id.
     at 1070 (citing R.S.A. 461–A:14, V).
    ¶17           Moreover, Mother fails to acknowledge the “proposition that
    the requirements of full faith and credit bar a defendant from collaterally
    attacking a divorce decree on jurisdictional grounds in the courts of a sister
    State where there has been participation by the defendant in the divorce
    proceedings, where the defendant has been accorded full opportunity to
    contest the jurisdictional issues, and where the decree is not susceptible to
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    such collateral attack in the courts of the State which rendered the decree.”
    Sherrer v. Sherrer, 
    334 U.S. 343
    , 351–52 (1948); see also Williams v. North
    Carolina, 
    325 U.S. 226
    , 230 (1945) (“It is one thing to reopen an issue that has
    been settled after appropriate opportunity to present their contentions has
    been afforded to all who had an interest in its adjudication. This applies also
    to jurisdictional questions. After a contest these cannot be relitigated as
    between the parties.”).
    ¶18            Mother had a full opportunity to challenge the New
    Hampshire court’s subject matter jurisdiction but did not do so until Father
    registered the arrearage orders in Arizona. In fact, Mother indicated just
    the opposite when she filed her 2014 motion to vacate in New Hampshire,
    stating that “[she] does not dispute that the Court had jurisdiction to
    establish a child support order under the Uniform Interstate Family
    Support Act, [R.S.A.] chapter 546-B:31.” Thus, Mother has failed to meet
    her burden of showing that the New Hampshire court lacked subject matter
    jurisdiction to issue the arrearage orders.
    B.     Res Judicata
    ¶19            Mother’s collateral attacks on the merits of the New
    Hampshire orders are precluded under the doctrine of res judicata (claim
    preclusion), which provides that an existing final judgment on the merits
    by a court of competent jurisdiction bars further litigation between the same
    parties on every point decided as well as every point that could have been
    decided on the record in the prior proceeding. See Underwriters Nat’l
    Assurance Co. v. N.C. Life & Accident & Health Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 
    455 U.S. 691
    ,
    710 (1982) (“A party cannot escape the requirements of full faith and credit
    or res judicata by asserting its own failure to raise matters clearly within the
    scope of a prior proceeding.”); Pettit v. Pettit, 
    218 Ariz. 529
    , 530, ¶ 1 (App.
    2008) (holding that res judicata bars re-litigation of matters actually
    litigated in a prior action as well as issues that might have been litigated);
    see also Brooks v. Trs. of Dartmouth Coll., 
    20 A.3d 890
    , 894 (N.H. 2011) (same).
    ¶20           Mother argues the 2010 Arrearage Order and subsequent
    New Hampshire orders were based on Father’s fraudulent
    misrepresentations in the March 2010 hearing. Mother’s allegations of legal
    errors and fraud were either raised or could have been raised in the 2014
    New Hampshire proceedings or earlier. In seeking to vacate the March
    2009 Order and subsequent orders, Mother argued in part there was no
    basis in fact or law for the New Hampshire orders. And as her counsel
    acknowledged at the Arizona evidentiary hearing, Mother could have
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    raised all of her substantive claims, including fraud, in her 2014 New
    Hampshire motion to vacate, but she failed to do so.
    ¶21            Mother contends the New Hampshire orders do not have
    preclusive effect because they were entered by default, citing Schilz v.
    Superior Court, 
    144 Ariz. 65
     (1985). In that case, our supreme court held that
    a foreign judgment was not entitled to full faith and credit because neither
    the father nor his counsel had appeared or otherwise litigated the matters
    at issue. Schilz, 
    144 Ariz. at 68
    . Thus, the Arizona courts could consider
    whether the issuing court properly exercised jurisdiction. 
    Id.
     Here,
    although Mother did not contest jurisdiction in New Hampshire, she
    appeared, or had the opportunity to appear, in those proceedings and thus
    had the opportunity to raise defenses and objections, including lack of
    jurisdiction. Accordingly, the New Hampshire orders are entitled to res
    judicata effect. See Lofts, 
    140 Ariz. at 411
     (“When the rendering court in a
    contested hearing determines it has jurisdiction, its determination is res
    judicata on the jurisdictional issue and cannot be relitigated in another
    state.”). As to Mother’s non-jurisdictional arguments, a “default judgment
    has the same res judicata effect as a judgment in a matter where the issues
    were litigated.” Norriega v. Machado, 
    179 Ariz. 348
    , 353 (App. 1994) (citing
    Tech. Air Prods., Inc. v. Sheridan-Gray, Inc., 
    103 Ariz. 450
    , 452 (1968)).
    ¶22             Mother relies on State ex rel. Dep’t of Econ. Sec. v. Powers, 
    184 Ariz. 235
     (App. 1995), which is also distinguishable. In Powers, the parties’
    default divorce decree did not mention any children common to the parties.
    
    Id.
     at 237–38. In addressing a subsequent paternity action, we concluded
    that the child’s paternity was not actually litigated in the divorce
    proceeding and thus we declined to apply collateral estoppel (issue
    preclusion). 
    Id. at 238
    . The analysis in Powers did not involve application
    of res judicata and thus it is not relevant to the issues presented here. Unlike
    collateral estoppel, res judicata does not require actual litigation. See Circle
    K Corp. v. Indus. Comm’n, 
    179 Ariz. 422
    , 427 (App. 1993) (“Issue preclusion
    does not apply in this case because the issue of causation has never been
    litigated.”); see also In re the Gen. Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the
    Gila River Sys. & Source, 
    212 Ariz. 64
    , 70 n.8, ¶ 14 (2006) (noting that only
    “claim preclusion” was at issue and recognizing that with respect to a
    default judgment, “none of the issues is actually litigated.”).
    ¶23           Mother never appealed the 2009 New Hampshire orders, and
    they became final. Her attempt to vacate those orders in 2014 was
    unsuccessful. She argues the 2014 New Hampshire proceedings are not
    entitled to res judicata effect because the issues raised were not actually
    litigated. However, in her motion to vacate and at the 2014 hearing, Mother
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    argued there was no child support order on which to base an arrearages
    order; the amount of the arrearages had no factual basis; she could not
    liquidate the real property and thus could not be found in willful violation
    of a court order; and she was wrongfully denied a continuance or
    telephonic appearance. The New Hampshire court affirmed the prior
    orders, and Mother’s subsequent appeal was denied. Regardless of
    whether the New Hampshire courts decided these issues correctly in 2009,
    2010, and again in 2014, the doctrine of res judicata precludes Mother from
    challenging those orders in this proceeding.4
    C.     Due Process
    ¶24            Mother also argues the New Hampshire orders are not
    entitled to full faith and credit because she was denied due process. See 28
    U.S.C. § 1738B(c)(2). She contends she was never served with the December
    2009 order, the 2010 Arrearage Order, Father’s May 2010 motion to clarify,
    or the resulting June 2010 USO. However, Father’s 2010 motion to clarify
    included a certificate of service signed by his attorney. The June 2010 USO
    states it was issued after a hearing and lists Mother’s Church Road address.
    Mother now claims the Church Road address was incorrect and that she
    notified the New Hampshire court to send everything to her criminal
    defense attorney in Arizona. But Mother’s December 8, 2009 letter to the
    court does not list an Arizona address or give her criminal defense
    attorney’s address. Similarly, Mother’s letter asking to continue the March
    9, 2010 hearing does not provide a criminal defense attorney’s address, and
    although it includes a different address under her signature, the letter does
    not constitute proper notification of a change of address.
    ¶25            Additionally, at the 2014 hearing in New Hampshire, Mother
    stated she received the “2010 order” and “contacted her New Hampshire
    attorney.” In the 2014 New Hampshire proceedings, Mother never claimed
    she was not served or did not receive any orders. This is inconsistent with
    her claim in the Arizona proceedings that she was not aware of the 2010
    Arrearage Order until November 2013. In light of these facts and Mother’s
    letters to the New Hampshire court in December 2009 and March 2010, we
    can reasonably infer that the Arizona court found Mother’s claim that she
    was unaware of the New Hampshire orders or the status of the arrearage
    litigation was not credible. See Wippman v. Rowe, 
    24 Ariz. App. 522
    , 525
    4      Because we conclude the New Hampshire orders are entitled to full
    faith and credit, we need not address Father’s argument that Mother’s
    unsuccessful litigation against Father in federal district court also precludes
    Mother’s challenge to the New Hampshire orders.
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    (1975) (holding that an appellate court “may infer from any judgment the
    findings necessary to sustain it if such additional findings do not conflict
    with express findings and are reasonably supported by the evidence”).
    ¶26            Mother also contends she was denied due process by the New
    Hampshire court’s denial of her request to appear telephonically and to
    appoint counsel. Regarding appointment of counsel, Mother does not point
    or direct us to any part of the record where she made such a request in the
    New Hampshire court proceedings. Thus, we reject Mother’s contention
    that she was denied due process when the New Hampshire court failed to
    sua sponte appoint counsel. Moreover, a trial court may appoint counsel in
    child support enforcement cases when the possibility of incarceration exists
    and when the defendant may be treated unfairly without the assistance of
    counsel. Duval v. Duval, 
    322 A.2d 1
    , 4 (N.H. 1974). Mother has failed to
    establish how she would have been treated unfairly if she had appeared on
    her own behalf in New Hampshire in connection with the 2009 and 2010
    proceedings.
    ¶27           The reasons for the New Hampshire court’s failure to rule on
    Mother’s informal request to appear telephonically at the hearing are
    unclear. The New Hampshire court continued the December 2009 hearing,
    thus implicitly denying the request, but in the same order it found Mother
    in contempt. The 2010 Arrearage Order was entered after Mother sent
    another letter stating she was available to appear telephonically or was
    “open to continuing the matter.” Father claimed he received Mother’s letter
    one day before the March 2010 hearing. Mother did not establish when the
    New Hampshire court received her letter. Without such evidence, the New
    Hampshire court properly may have deemed Mother’s request untimely or
    improperly filed. Mother also raised this issue in the 2014 New Hampshire
    motion to vacate, which was denied. Although the ex parte/default nature
    of the December 2009 and June 2010 orders seems unusual, we cannot
    conclude on this record that Mother was deprived of due process.
    D.     Application of A.R.S. § 25-1307(A)
    ¶28           Under A.R.S. § 25-1307(A)(5), a party may seek to vacate the
    registration of a foreign support order if he or she establishes “a defense
    under the law of this state to the remedy sought.” That section provides as
    follows:
    A party contesting the validity or enforcement of a registered
    support order or seeking to vacate the registration has the
    burden of proving one or more of the following defenses:
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    1.   The issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction over the
    contesting party.
    2.   The order was obtained by fraud.
    3.   The order has been vacated, suspended or modified by a
    later order.
    4.   The issuing tribunal has stayed the order pending appeal.
    5.   There is a defense under the law of this state to the
    remedy sought.
    6.   Full or partial payment has been made.
    7.   The statute of limitations applicable under § 25-1304
    precludes enforcement of some or all of the alleged
    arrearages.
    8.   The alleged controlling order is not the controlling order.
    A.R.S. § 25-1307(A). Mother contends her obligation to pay college
    expenses is not child support, but instead is a contractual obligation which
    cannot be enforced by way of contempt in Arizona after the child turns 18.
    In Solomon v. Findley, 
    167 Ariz. 409
    , 411–12 (1991), our supreme court held
    that the superior court lacked authority to enforce child support provisions
    after a child reached majority, but the parties’ agreement to pay college
    expenses was enforceable as an independent contract claim.
    ¶29           Mother contends she could not have raised this Arizona
    defense in the New Hampshire proceedings; therefore, it is not barred by
    res judicata. However, her attempt to challenge the authority to enter a
    child support order that arguably should have been handled as a contract
    claim constitutes an impermissible collateral attack on the New Hampshire
    arrearage order. Correctly or incorrectly, the New Hampshire court
    expressly concluded that the parties’ agreement supported a valid and
    enforceable child support order. After Mother failed to comply with that
    order, the New Hampshire court found her in contempt and entered a child
    support arrearage order. Mother improperly seeks to apply Arizona law
    regarding agreements to pay college expenses to an issue already decided
    by the New Hampshire court based on New Hampshire law.5
    5     New Hampshire does allow contempt enforcement in some
    circumstances. See Solomon, 
    167 Ariz. at
    411–12 n.2 (citing Lund v. Lund, 
    74 A.2d 557
    , 559 (N.H. 1950) (allowing contempt action for spouse’s failure to
    pay tuition expenses of the parties’ child after she turned 18, as one of
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    STROBEL, et al. v. ROSIER
    Decision of the Court
    ¶30           Because Mother challenges the interpretation of the arrearage
    order as a child support order, the law of the issuing state applies. See 28
    U.S.C. § 1738B(h)(2). This is not an issue of enforcement, where Arizona
    law would apply. See id. § 1738B(h)(1). On this choice of law question, 28
    U.S.C. § 1738B governs and “preempts all similar state laws pursuant to the
    Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.” In re Marriage of Yuro,
    
    192 Ariz. 568
    , 571, ¶ 7 (App. 1998). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1738B(h), we
    apply New Hampshire law to interpret the orders, not Arizona law.
    Mother, therefore, cannot rely on Solomon in her effort to challenge the
    correctness of the arrearage orders issued by the New Hampshire court.
    CONCLUSION
    ¶31           We affirm the order to enforce the arrearage orders. We deny
    Father’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees on appeal because he failed
    to cite any authority to support his request. See Ezell v. Quon, 
    224 Ariz. 532
    ,
    539, ¶ 31 (App. 2010); see also Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure
    (“ARCAP”) 21(a)(2).
    AMY M. WOOD • Clerk of the Court
    FILED: AA
    several jurisdictions allowing post-majority support provisions to be
    enforced by contempt)).
    12