Porter v. Porter, 309 Neb. 167

Sybil and Dustin Porter are divorced parents; prior court orders (2012, 2015, 2017) governed custody and child support; a 2017 order suspended current support with offsets tied to disability/benefits.
March 25, 2020: Sybil filed to modify child support based on changed income; Dustin was served but did not timely file a responsive pleading.
After a continuance, an August 17, 2020 hearing proceeded without Dustin; the court admitted a workers’ compensation award and, on August 18, entered a default order modifying support ($604/month plus $100 toward arrears).
Dustin filed a motion to vacate within two weeks, asserting he did not appear, the order misstated his income, and the guidelines were not applied; the district court granted the motion during the same term and set a status hearing.
Sybil appealed from the October 8, 2020 order vacating the August modification. The Nebraska Supreme Court held the order was not a final, appealable order because it did not affect a substantial right and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the order vacating the default modification is a final, appealable order under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1902 (i.e., whether it affects a substantial right)	Sybil: vacatur deprived her of finality and relief; loss of >3 years of support made the modification a substantial right	Dustin: vacatur merely allowed him to defend; rights not finally determined; no substantial right irretrievably lost	Court: vacatur did not affect a substantial right or finally determine parties’ rights; not a final order; appeal dismissed
Whether the district court properly exercised its inherent power to vacate/modifiy judgments during the term	Sybil: court abused its discretion in sustaining motion to vacate	Dustin: court has inherent authority to set aside default judgments during the term	Court: acknowledged district court’s inherent power to vacate during the term but did not reach abuse-of-discretion merits because appeal was jurisdictionally defective

Jones v. Nebraska Blue Cross Hospital Service Assn., 175 Neb. 101, 120 N.W.2d 557 (1963) (held an order vacating a default judgment is appealable)
Vacca v. DeJardine, 213 Neb. 736, 331 N.W.2d 516 (1983) (endorsed Jones as the better-reasoned rule on appealability)
Brown v. Edgerton, 14 Neb. 453, 16 N.W. 474 (1883) (early precedent holding an order vacating a default judgment during the same term is not final)
Rose v. Dempster Mill Mfg. Co., 69 Neb. 27, 94 N.W. 964 (1903) (order setting aside judgment allows defendant to answer; not final)
Fidler v. Life Care Centers of America, 301 Neb. 724, 919 N.W.2d 903 (2018) (discussed final-order analysis and reaffirmed prior treatment of vacatur/reinstatement in dicta)
Johnson v. Johnson, 290 Neb. 838, 862 N.W.2d 740 (2015) (rules on retroactivity for child support modification)
Colwell v. Managed Care of North America, 308 Neb. 597, 955 N.W.2d 744 (2021) (jurisdictional issues decided as questions of law)