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Date: 05-16-2024
Case Style:
Lucia Guh-Siesel v. Brian Allan Siesel
Case Number: 2024 WY 54
Judge: Kate G. McKay
Court: District Court, Teton County, Wyoming
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Jackson, Wyoming family law lawyers represented the parties in a divorce action.
[¶3] Mrs. Guh-Siesel filed her Wyoming complaint for divorce on January 4, 2023. Mrs. Guh-Siesel alleged that she had been a resident of Teton County, Wyoming, for more than 60 days immediately prior to its filing. She also alleged that she and Mr. Siesel were the parents of LS, who had resided in Wyoming for five consecutive months prior to the filing of the complaint. Mr. Siesel filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Wyoming was an inconvenient forum and that California was a better forum because he had not been in Wyoming since October 2022, "[a]ll potential trial witnesses" were in California, and he and Mrs. Guh-Siesel had never resided together in Wyoming.[1]
[¶4] The district court held a hearing on the motion[2] where evidence was elicited. The evidence relevant to the motion follows. The parties were married on November 9, 1996, in California. They had three children. When this matter commenced two had reached the age of majority and, one, LS, was a minor.[3] For most of their marriage, the parties resided in California where Mr. Siesel was a high school science teacher and Mrs. Guh-Siesel, an attorney. In 2022, Mr. Siesel, Mrs. Guh-Siesel, and LS decided to relocate to Wyoming, and on July 18, 2022, Mr. Siesel and Mrs. Guh-Siesel signed a lease for a home in Wilson, Wyoming. At the time, Mrs. Guh-Siesel had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments in California, and had undergone surgery.
[¶5] Mr. Siesel and LS moved to Wilson in August 2022. Mr. Siesel, who was on leave from his teaching job in California, stayed in Wilson with LS for approximately eight weeks. While in Wyoming, Mr. Siesel took steps to become a resident. He registered the family's two cars in Wyoming, opened a post office box in Wilson, changed his mailing address from California to Wilson, registered to vote in Wyoming, got a Wyoming driver's license, and found a Wyoming primary care physician. On October 15, 2022, Mr. Siesel returned to California for work and has remained in California since that time. Mrs. Guh-Siesel, still battling cancer, arrived in Wyoming in October 2022. On her arrival, Mrs. Guh-Siesel took steps to become a Wyoming resident. She registered to vote, opened a checking account at the Bank of Jackson Hole, obtained a Wyoming driver's license, and established medical care with a Wyoming primary care physician and an oncologist. Mrs. Guh-Siesel joined the local cancer "survivorship program," received weekly care at St. John's Health, and joined the Jackson Recreation Center. Mrs. Guh-Siesel worked remotely from Wyoming and returned to California on most Fridays as part of her work requirements.
[¶6] In late January 2023, Mrs. Guh-Siesel's cancer worsened, and she returned to California for three weeks of treatment. Her California doctors advised her to take medical leave from work. Mrs. Guh-Siesel took medical leave and returned to Wyoming. Because Mrs. Guh-Siesel was no longer working, rent for the Wilson home became unaffordable and she terminated the lease. Mrs. Guh-Siesel and LS lived with friends for the remainder of the school year. Except for temporary absences-travel for work prior to her leave of absence, medical care, a school trip for LS, and the Thanksgiving holiday-Mrs. Guh-Siesel was in Wyoming from October 15, 2022, through May 2023. When the school year ended, Mrs. Guh-Siesel and LS returned to California for the summer allowing Mrs. Guh-Siesel to obtain cancer treatment not available in Wyoming and to spend time with the parties' adult children. In August 2023, Mrs. Guh-Siesel and LS returned to Wyoming.
Outcome: After the hearing, the district court granted Mr. Siesel's motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: