Order on petition for contempt in divorce case, PARTIALLY REVERSED, since trial court ERRED  in ruling that husband was not obligated to pay termporary alimony payments that were payable prior to entry of remittitur in this case; temporary award continues in effect until entry of remittitur in trial court and, from that date on, any permanent award in final judgment takes effect; trial court did NOT ERR in in holding that temporary child support remained in effect until remittitur was entered;  husband was not in contempt for failing to make July and August, 2009 child suppport payments, since he tried to mail July check, but wife failed to sign for it, and he brought August check to August hearing; husband was not in contempt for failing to remove wife’s name from mortgage as he was unable to refinance property and demonstrated need for adidtional time to do so; husband was in contempt for failing to maintain life insurance paolicy in amount of $3M naming wife as successor trustee, despite any tax purposes for doing otherwise, as divorce decree expressly stated that he would do so; inlight of husband’s contempt, case remanded for determination of wife’s motion for attorney’s fees.

Robinson v. Robinson, S10A0929 (10/04/10), 10 FCDR 3170

From:  Fulton County Daily Report, 10/15/2010.

Judgment ordering husband to pay lump-sum child support in excess of 201K, AFFIRMED, as nothing in O.C.G.A. § 10-6-15 expressly precludes lump-sum child support awards; 2007 version of guidelines statue did not eliminate trial court’s discretion to order lump-sum payments under appropriate circumstances, such as those in this case – father pled guilty to federal crimes, for which he received 5-year sentence, he lost his employment to to his crimes and he had spent all but approximately 200k of his 422k inheritance by time of trial; father’s speculative concern aout precluding futher modifiaction of his obligation was not ripe for adjudication; trial court acted within its broad discretion in declining to discount lump-sum payment to present value, given current economic climate in which even secure financial investments offer extremely low rates of return.

Mullin v. Roy f/k/a/ Mullin, S10F1120 (09/20/2010), 10 FCDR 3010.

Judgment PARTIALLY VACATED, denial of father’s petition to modify child support and custody terms established by consent order with his daughter’s mother, AFFIRMED; award of attorneys’ fees to mother VACATED AND REMANDED for evidentiary hearing; mother’s evidence regarding legal expenses was insufficient to determine whether award was reasonable, because mother offered only generalized proffer of evidence; trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying father’s petition, because trial court appropriately considered numerous relevant facts shown by evidence and some evidence supported its decision to reject father’s petition.

Lurry v. McCants, A09A1743 (02/01/2010), 10 FCDR 355.

From:  Fulton County Daily Report, 2/19/2010.

Judgment REVERSED in Gowins v. Gary, 284 Ga. App. 370 (2007), as trial court lacked authority to hold father in contempt of court for failing to make child support payments, which accrued under parties’ private settlement agreement prior to its incorporation into April 2005 court judgment; trial court held that it could not hold father in contempt for failing to pay child support prior to April 2005 judgment and Court of Appeals REVERSED, holding that “when the settlement agreement was incorporated in the April 2005 judgment and Court of Appeals reversed, holding that “when the settlement agreement from the date it was executed in July 2002 became the support obligations awarded by the court.”

Order awarding mother child support and providing father with certain visitation rights, AFFIRMED; absent transcript, trial court’s judgment was presumably correct; appellant failed to support his first claim with citation to authority or argument.

Sebby v. Costo, A07A2138 (03/05/08), 08 FCDR 795

Fulton County Daily Report, 03/21/2008

Judgment entered in parties’ divorce action, AFFIRMED; evidence supported trial court’s conclusion that husband’s income was at least $65K per year, that alimony award was proper and that husband’s age and health condition did not adversely affect his ability to pay child support; evidence that husband incurred $27K tax debt on his own supported trial court’s decision to require him to pay debt.

Vereen v. Vereen, S08F0736 (11/17/08), 08 FCDR 3664

Fulton County Daily Report, 12/08/2008

Denial of appellant’s motion to dismiss appellee’s complaint to record and modify Alabama child support order, REVERSED; trial court erred by finding that appellant was Georgia resident for these purposes and also erred by awarding attorneys’ fees to appellee on modification action; trial court erred in ruling that appellant resides in Georgia, since there was extensive evidence that appellant continues to consider Alabama his home and he intends to remain there.

Kean v. Marshall, A08A0828 (11/10/08), 08 FCDR 3730

Fulton County Daily Report, 12/05/2008.

Judgment PARTIALLY VACATED on father’s petition for joint custody, visitation rights and downward modification of his child support obligation as trial court erred in delaying effective date of its upward modification of father’s child support obligation for 15 months so that he could pay off child support arrearage; although trial court could delay full implementation of upward modification via phase-in, under OCGA 19-6-15, trial court had to provide for some amount, equal to or greater than 25 percent of new award, to take effect immediately; since arrearages cannot be considered in reducing gross income for child-support calculations, it would be inconsistent to allow those arrearages to delay implementation of statutorily-outline increase in child support.

Hampton v. Nesmith, A0801887 (11/13/08), 08 FCDR 3728

Fulton County Daily Report, 12/05/2008

Lump-sum back-child support award against father VACATED, and case remanded for trial court to reconsider award in light of father’s annual income and his other child support obligations;  Weaver v. Chester, 195 Ga. App. 471 (1990), set custodial parent’s actual expenditures as ceiling or maximum for back-support award, but in no way set those expenditures as minimum for such award, and trial court must follow Child Support Guidelines, which include consideration of both parent’s income and their other child support obligations; evidence showed that father earned less than $27K per year, while child’s natural mother, father’s ex wife, erned nearly three time that amount, and father has five adopted children throughhis remarriage; mother’s testimony regarding her actual child-care expenses over 12 yers, of which she had personal knowledge, supported trial court’s finding that mother expended $83.6K for child-care during that time periold.

Smith v. Carter, A10A1760 (07/30/10), 10 FCDR 2674.

From:  Fulton County Daily Report

Grant of father’s motion for upward modification of mother’s child support obligation, REVERSED, as evidence did not support trial court’s ruling that mother had ability or means to earn amount, which trial court found that she could earn per month and upon which it based award; it was undisputed that mother’s income and earning capacity ad dramatically decreased from what trial court notes and projected in 2005 order and from what she actually earned in 2006 and 2007; in 2008 mothers was earning $13 per hour for gross income of approximately $1.5K per month, of which $1K went towards her monthly day care bills,  her hours as office administrator for dental practice could not be increased due to economic turn down, and she could not pursue career selling real estate, because of depressed real estate market and her inability to fund out-of-pocket expenses required of real estate agent; no evidence showed that mother was willfully underemployed, or that she was voluntarily suppressing her income to avoid child support payments; evidence did not support finding that mother was not legally pursuing biological father of her illegitimate child for child support as means of suppressing her income; $2.5K attorneys’ fee award for father, REVERSED, as evidence did not support trial court’s determination that mother had ability to pay such amount; case remanded to trial court for entry of award, which evidence supports.

Herrin v. Herrin, S10A0384 (06/28/2010), 10 FCDR 2063

From:  Fulton County Daily Report, 07/09/2010.