Finch v. Finch
Finch v. Finch
Opinion of the Court
Appellant appeals from a judgment of the trial court granting appellee’s motion to enforce a settlement agreement.
The parties to this case were formerly husband and wife. After their divorce, the ownership of their former residence was placed in both their names. Sometime after the divorce, appellee, the former husband, conveyed his ownership interest in the property to appellant, the former wife, thus vesting complete ownership of the property in appellant. Several months after this conveyance, appellee filed suit
1. Appellant first enumerates that the trial court erred in enforcing the settlement because a condition precedent to the enforceability of the agreement, appellant’s right to inspect the house, was not fulfilled. Despite appellant’s contentions in her brief about the necessity of compliance with the condition precedent before the agreement could be enforced, the evidence adduced at the hearing does not at all support appellant’s position. Appellant testified at the hearing that a settlement agreement was reached and that she consented to that agreement. Appellant' testified as to her understanding of the terms of the agreement, which were not disputed by appellee. Appellant does not contest her attorney’s authority to enter into the agreement, nor do the parties dispute that appellee did agree to allow appellant to inspect the house. Moreover, the evidence is clear that appellant did in fact inspect the house. It was during the inspection that a disagreement arose between appellant and appellee. In her brief, appellant states that her right to inspect was denied because appellee did not want appellant to inspect one bedroom closet; however, appellant’s testimony does not indicate that this was the reason she refused to comply with the agreement. Appellant testified that, as the result of an argument about a camera, appellee stated that he did not want to settle, and therefore appellant refused to settle. Despite appellee’s refusal to settle, appellant did not attempt to enforce the settlement against appellee. Even if appellant was dissatisfied with the extent of her inspection, she nevertheless did not seek to enforce a more complete inspection against appellee. Instead, appellant decided to refuse to settle, and rejected a binding settlement agreement. Even though appellee offered at the hearing to allow a full inspection to the satis
2. Appellant also argues that the trial court’s order was in error because the oral settlement agreement violated the statute of frauds as the agreement was a contract for the sale of lands or concerning lands. As this argument was raised on appeal for the first time, we will not consider it. Warren v. Jenkins, 190 Ga. App. 442 (2) (379 SE2d 19) (1989).
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.