Wells v. Wells

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this appeal, an Indian tribal member residing on a reservation seeks relief from a 1991 state court judgment awarding child support. He contends that the judgment is void for lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction. The circuit court refused to vacate the judgment. Because the father fully litigated the question of jurisdiction before the judgment was entered and then abandoned his appeal, we affirm the circuit court’s ruling that the 1991 judgment is res judicata.

Background

[¶ 2.] William W. Wells and Dolly Mae Wells were married in May 1980, in Pierre,…