Curtis v. Curtis
| Decision Date | 27 November 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 42157,42157 |
| Citation | 255 Ga. 288,336 S.E.2d 770 |
| Parties | CURTIS v. CURTIS. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Thomas H. Hinson II, Westmoreland, Patterson & Moseley, Macon, for Denna Y. Curtis.
E. Herman Warnock, McCrae, for Freddie C. Curtis.
The appellant, Mrs. Denna Y. Curtis, filed an action for divorce against the appellee, Mr. Freddie C. Curtis. The divorce was granted on the pleadings and all other issues were reserved for trial. On July 27, 1984, the jury made an equitable division of their property and an award of child support which was entered as a final judgment and decree on August 10, 1984. Although the jury did not know which parent would have custody of the child at the time the child support award was made, it awarded the same amount the trial judge had ordered the appellee to pay the appellant for child support at the temporary hearing. On August 28, 1984, the appellant filed a contempt citation against the appellee to enforce the final decree, and a hearing was set for September 6, 1984. By September 6, the appellee had complied with all of the terms of the final judgment by paying the appellant the sum of $10,000, paying the State Bank of Cochran the sum of $6,882.92 that represented the outstanding indebtedness on an automobile awarded to the appellant, delivering the title to the automobile to the appellant, and paying the appellant's attorney the sum of $3,000 in attorney fees. On September 10, four days after the appellee had complied with all of the terms of the final decree, the appellant filed a motion for new trial. The trial judge dismissed her motion for new trial, and the appellant filed an application for discretionary appeal which we granted. We affirm.
The appellant asserts, among other things, that the jury should have known which parent would have custody of the child before it made the child support award.
While we find that a jury's decision can only be as good as the information it relies upon in the decision making process, and "children are entitled to be supported ... during their minority commensurate with their proven customary needs and the [parent's] financial ability to provide for them," Harrison v. Harrison, 233 Ga. 12, 15, 209 S.E.2d 607 (1974); Clavin v. Clavin, 238 Ga. 421, 233 S.E.2d 151 (1977), this appellant forfeited her right to complain. J & F Car Care Service, Inc. v. Russell Corporation 166 Ga.App. 888, 305 S.E.2d 504 (1983). This appellant sought to enforce the final judgment by way of a contempt proceeding. Prior to filing the motion for new trial, the judgment was satisfied and the appellant accepted the fruits of the final judgment. The appellant cannot receive the fruits of the final judgment and then seek to have it set aside by way of her motion for new trial. Wilkinson v. Wilkinson, 241 Ga. 303, 304, 245 S.E.2d 278 (1978).
In view of the fact that the jury's child support award was exactly the same as the trial court's award of child support, we do not find that the jury's lack of knowledge in this case affected the substantial rights of the child, see OCGA § 9-11-61.
However, if child custody is unresolved at the end of the...
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Thompson v. Thompson, S10F1231.
...Ga. 884, 885(1), 561 S.E.2d 801 (2002). See also Smith v. Smith, 281 Ga. 204, 207(2), n. 11, 636 S.E.2d 519 (2006); Curtis v. Curtis, 255 Ga. 288, 336 S.E.2d 770 (1985); Coley v. Coley, 128 Ga. 654, 655(1), 58 S.E. 205 (1907). 1 In Grissom, however, a plurality of the Court departed from lo......
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...this Court's pilot project for divorce cases. See Wright v. Wright, 277 Ga. 133, 587 S.E.2d 600 (2003). 1. Relying on Curtis v. Curtis, 255 Ga. 288, 336 S.E.2d 770 (1985), Husband argues that Wife has waived the right to appeal by accepting the benefits of the final judgment and decree, i.e......
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Barber v. Barber
...Appellant argues the trial court erred in failing to provide the jury with alternate verdict forms as required by Curtis v. Curtis, 255 Ga. 288, 336 S.E.2d 770 (1985). In that case we held that where the issue of child custody is unresolved at the end of the evidence, or where the trial cou......
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Hill v. Paluzzi, No. A03A0213.
...fees and attorney fees on April 23, 2002. 16. See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XXIII. 17. See Curtis v. Curtis, 255 Ga. 288, 289, 336 S.E.2d 770 (1985). ...