Utah Supreme Court Refuses To Set Aside Default Judgment In FLDS Land Case

In Wisan v. City of Hildale, (UT Sup. Ct., June 17, 2014), the Utah Supreme Court, in the latest decision in the long running litigation over the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints United Effort Plan Trust, refused on procedural grounds to set aside a default judgment that had been entered against Hildale, Utah and the Twin City Water Authority.  The default judgment came in an attempt by the court-appointed trustee to subdivide the trust land in order to facilitate distribution of separate parcels that did not carry liability for neighbors' tax delinquencies.  The court held that the grounds asserted by defendants are not ones that can be raised in a direct appeal of a trial court's refusal to set aside a default judgment.