Lang v. Lang
Decision Date | 16 March 1999 |
Docket Number | No. COA98-466.,COA98-466. |
Citation | 132 NC App. 580,512 S.E.2d 788 |
Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Parties | Wilma LANG v. Manfred LANG. Karin Lang v. Manfred Lang. |
Jackson & Jackson, by Phillip T. Jackson, Hendersonville, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Don H. Elkins, Hendersonville, for defendant-appellee.
Briefly summarized, the record indicates that Wilma and Manfred Lang were married in Germany in 1962 and had a daughter, Karin, in 1969. The couple divorced in 1974 and entered into an agreement regarding child custody and support, alimony and the division of marital property.
In June of 1992 and August of 1994, the wife and daughter, respectively, filed Petition and Notice of Registration of Foreign Support Orders in Henderson County, North Carolina where Manfred Lang (defendant) resided. Although defendant objected to both registrations, the court entered an order in August 1995 confirming each. Defendant appealed and this Court affirmed the lower court's decision in Lang v. Lang, 125 N.C.App. 573, 481 S.E.2d 380 (1997).
On 15 October 1997, plaintiffs served defendant with discovery requests and defendant filed "Objections to Discovery and Motion for Protective Order." In his motion, defendant argued that "there is no pending action whatsoever that has been filed by plaintiffs against your defendant to enforce said registered Foreign Support Order pursuant to N.C.G.S. 52A-29 and N.C.G.S. 52A-30." Plaintiffs moved to compel and a hearing was scheduled. The court, in its order dated 26 November 1997, denied plaintiffs' motion to compel defendant to respond to discovery stating, in pertinent part:
Plaintiffs appealed from this ruling.
The particular issue before us is whether the trial court's order is immediately appealable. We conclude that it is not and dismiss the appeal.
"An interlocutory decree is immediately appealable only if permitted by N.C. Gen.Stat. § 1-277 (1996), N.C. Gen.Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 54(b) (1990), or N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7A-27(d) (1995)." Hunter v. Hunter, 126 N.C.App. 705, 707, 486 S.E.2d 244, 245 (1997). "Appellate procedure is designed to eliminate the unnecessary delay and expense of repeated fragmentary appeals, and to present the whole case for determination in a single appeal from the final judgment." Id. at 708, 486 S.E.2d at 245-46 (citation omitted). In keeping with this policy of discouraging fragmentary appeals, we conclude that the present order does not affect a substantial right or finally determine the action. Plaintiffs' rights will be adequately protected by an appeal timely taken, if necessary, from the final judgment following proper enforcement actions filed in the action.
To that end, we note that the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA) in Chapter 52A of the North Carolina General Statutes ( ) established a two-step procedure concerning foreign support orders in North Carolina: Pinner v. Pinner, 33 N.C.App. 204, 206, 234 S.E.2d 633, 635 (1977). "Personal jurisdiction is not a requisite for registration of an order under G.S....
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...whether to vacate the registration or grant the respondent other relief); and (2) enforcement of the order. See Lang v. Lang, 132 N.C.App. 580, 582, 512 S.E.2d 788, 790 (1999). URESA provided that a petitioner could seek to accomplish both of these steps simultaneously, or, in the alternati......