Holmes-Bracy v. Bracy
Holmes-Bracy v. Bracy
Opinion of the Court
Following the denial of her motion to hold John Paul Bracy (Husband) in contempt, Linda Holmes-Bracy (Wife) filed an application for discretionary appeal with this Court. We granted Wife’s application and posed the following question to the parties: “Did the trial court err in concluding that husband could not be held in contempt for failing to make any of the monthly payments of 50% of his military retirement that he was required to make under the terms of the parties’ final divorce decree because the judgment had become dormant?”
This ruling is incorrect. As an initial matter, the trial court did properly find that the dormancy period of the judgment does begin to run from the time when the judgment could first be enforced. See Corvin v. Debter, 281 Ga. 500, 500-501 (639 SE2d 477) (2007). In this case, Wife’s first viable opportunity to enforce the judgment occurred in July of 2006, when the initial payment became due. In order to properly analyze the application of the dormancy statute to the award of military pay extended to Wife, it must first be recognized that Wife is entitled to installment payments, not a lump sum amount. In a number of previous cases (especially with regard to installment payments of alimony), we have held that the dormancy period does not begin to run until each installment is due. In other words, each installment payment is treated as a new and separate judgment. See Bryant v. Bryant, 232 Ga. 160, 163 (205 SE2d 223) (1974) (“[W]ith respect to instal[l] ment-payment alimony judgments, installments that became due within seven years preceding the
Accordingly, we find that the rule set forth in Bryant is applicable to the installment payments of Husband’s military retirement here. As such, installments that became due within seven years preceding the issuance and recording of the execution are collectible and enforceable. Installments that are dormant remain subject to revival pursuant to OCGA § 9-12-61. We must, therefore, reverse the trial court’s ruling that any and all installment payments due to Wife cannot be enforced,
Judgment reversed in part and case remanded with direction.
As a matter of current law, the Court of Appeals, rather than this Court, has subject matter jurisdiction over “[a]ll divorce and alimony cases” in which a notice of appeal or application to appeal is filed on or after January 1, 2017. Appellate Jurisdiction Reform Act of 2016, Ga. L. 2016, p. 883, §§ 3-1 (codified at OCGA § 15-3-3.1 (a) (5)), 6-1 (c); Merrill v. Lee, 301 Ga. 34, 36 (1) n.l (799 SE2d 169) (2017). Because Wife filed her application to appeal before January 1, 2017, we have jurisdiction over this case.
OCGA § 9-12-60 was amended in 1997 to explicitly exempt child support and spousal support from the dormancy provisions of subsection (a). The amendment applies prospectively to judgments entered after July 1, 1997. See Brown v. Brown, 269 Ga. 724, 726 (2) (506 SE2d 108) (1998).
We affirm the trial court’s ruling that “[Husband] has clearly and knowingly failed to uphold his obligations under the decree.”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HOLMES-BRACY v. BRACY
- Cited By
- 3 cases
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- Published