Inlow v. Dist. Ct. (Sanchez)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA
KRISTA INLOW, No. 69539
Petitioner,
vs.
THE FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, FILED
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF NYE;
AND THE HONORABLE ROBERT W. JUN 2 0 2016
LANE, DISTRICT JUDGE, TRACIE K LINDEMAN
CLERK OF SUPREME COURT
Respondents,
DEPUTY CLER
and
DAVID M. SANCHEZ,
Real Party in Interest.
ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF PROHIBITION
This is an original petition for a writ of mandamus or
prohibition challenging a district court order that denied petitioner's
request to strike a motion for grandparent visitation filed by real party in
interest.
Petitioner Krista Inlow and real party in interest David
Sanchez are the parents of one child. Sanchez filed the underlying
petition to establish custody, which Inlow opposed. Sanchez then filed a
combined reply to the opposition and motion for visitation by the paternal
grandparents. Inlow moved to strike the motion arguing that NRS
125C.050 requires a petition for grandparent visitation through an
independent action. The district court denied the motion to strike,
reasoning that NRS 125C.050 does not explicitly require a separate action
and that hearing the matters concurrently served judicial economy. The
court ordered Sanchez and Inlow to brief the grandparent visitation
request without joining the grandparents as parties. In this writ petition,
Inlow maintains that the motion for grandparent visitation should be
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stricken because the paternal grandparents have not intervened as parties
or filed an independent petition with the district court.
This court may issue a writ of prohibition to prevent the
district court from exercising judicial functions which• are in excess of the
court's jurisdiction. NRS 34.320. Whether to entertain an extraordinary
writ petition is purely discretionary with this court. Smith v. Eighth
Judicial Dist. Court, 107 Nev. 674, 677, 818 P.2d 849, 851 (1991). Having
considered the parties' arguments, we conclude that the district court
correctly determined that NRS 125C.050 does not explicitly require an
independent action, and thus, a motion filed within the existing custody
action would suffice. Nevertheless, the paternal grandparents have not
intervened or been joined in the custody action between Sanchez and
Inlow, and the district court does not have jurisdiction to award custodial
rights to a nonparty to the action. See Micone v. Micone, 132 Nev., Adv.
Op. 14, 368 P.3d 1195, 1197 (2016) (reversing child custody award to
nonparty grandparents and holding that a nonparent must either bring or
intervene in the custody suit between the parents before being awarded
custody); Young v. Nev. Title Co., 103 Nev. 436, 442, 744 P.2d 902, 905
(1987) (holding that a court does not have jurisdiction to enter a judgment
for or• against a nonparty to the action); see also NRCP 19 (allowing the
court to join a person as a party to obtain just adjudication); NRCP 24
(governing procedure for intervention by a nonparty). Thus, the district
court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the motion for grandparent visitation
filed by Sanchez.
Accordingly, we grant this petition and direct the clerk of this
court to issue a writ of prohibition directing the district court to refrain
from acting on the motion for grandparent visitation filed by real party in
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interest David Sanchez until the paternal grandparents have intervened
or been joined in the action below.
It is so ORDERED.
J.
Douglas
Che
J.
Gibbons
cc: Hon. Robert W. Lane, District Judge
Patricia C. Halstead
Evenson Law Office
Nye County Clerk
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