STATE OF IDAHO JUDICIAL BRANCH
Supreme Court

Idaho Rules of Family Law Procedure Rule 213. Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions.

(a) Signature. Every pleading, written motion, and other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record licensed in the state of Idaho, in the individual attorney’s name, or by a party personally if the party is unrepresented. The paper must state the signer's address, e-mail address, and telephone number. Unless a rule or statute specifically states otherwise, a pleading need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. The court must strike an unsigned paper unless the omission is promptly corrected after being called to the attorney's or party's attention.

(1) Electronic Signature. An electronic signature may be used on any document that is transmitted electronically, and a notary’s seal may be in electronic form.

(2) In civil protection order actions, the petitioner may omit his address, phone number, or email address on the petition or application so long as this information has been included on the family law case information sheet.

(b) Representations to the Court. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper, whether by signing, filing, or submitting, or later advocating it, an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:

(1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;

(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;

(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and

(4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.

(c) Sanctions.

(1) In General. If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that subsection (b) has been violated, the court must impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsible for the violation. A law firm may be held jointly responsible for a violation committed by its partner, associate, or employee.

(2) Motion for Sanctions. A motion for sanctions must be made separately from any other motion and must describe the specific conduct that allegedly violates subsection (b). The motion must be served under Rule 205, but it must not be filed or be presented to the court if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets. If warranted, the court may award to the prevailing party on the motion, reasonable expenses, including attorney fees and costs incurred for the motion.

(3) On the Court’s Initiative. On its own, the court may order an attorney, law firm, or party to show cause why conduct specifically described in the order has not violated subsection(b).

(4) Nature of the Sanction. The sanction imposed under this rule may include an order to pay to the other party or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred because of the filing of the pleading, motion, or other paper, including reasonable attorney fees. The sanction may also include nonmonetary directives.

(5) Vexatious Litigant. In addition to any other sanction available under this rule, the court may also refer to the administrative district judge the question of whether to declare a person to be a vexatious litigant pursuant to I.C.A.R. 59 and for relief under that rule.

(6) Requirements for an Order.An order imposing a sanction must describe the sanctioned conduct and explain the basis for the sanction.

(d) Inapplicability to Discovery. This rule does not apply to disclosures and discovery requests, responses, objections, and motions under Part IV. Disclosure, Discovery, and Subpoena sections of these rules.

(Adopted March 29, 2021, effective July 1, 2021.)