Turner v. Turner

• Decision Date: 12 December 2003
• Citation: 883 So.2d 233
• Parties: Jeffrie C. TURNER v. Charles Gregory TURNER.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

883 So.2d 233

Jeffrie C. TURNER v. Charles Gregory TURNER.

2020167.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

December 12, 2003.

Don P. Bennett, Dothan, for appellant.

Benjamin E. Meredith, Dothan, for appellee.

MURDOCK, Judge.

Jeffrie C. Turner ("the mother") appeals from an order directing her and Charles Gregory Turner ("the father") to calculate the past and future child-support obligations of the father.

Although neither party has raised the issue of this court's jurisdiction over this appeal, we note that "jurisdictional matters are of such magnitude that we take notice of them at any time and do so even ex mero motu." Nunn v. Baker, 518 So.2d 711, 712 (Ala.1987). Because we find that there was no final judgment that would support an appeal, we dismiss the appeal.

The parties were divorced by a judgment of the Henry Circuit Court on June 27, 2001. That judgment provided that the father would pay $1,000 per month in child support for the parties' two children. On February 19, 2002, the father petitioned for a modification of his child-support obligation, based on the parties' older child having reached the age of majority. At an evidentiary hearing at which both parties presented evidence and testimony, the father also argued that he had had a reduction in his income.

Following the evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered an order on July 19, 2002. That order directed the parties to calculate the amount of past-due child support that was owed by the father at the time he filed his petition to modify and to recalculate the father's child-support obligation for the parties' remaining minor child in compliance with the child-support guidelines (see Rule 32, Ala. R. Jud. Admin.) based on the parties' respective monthly incomes as found by the trial court. The trial court made no finding as to the actual amount of the child-support arrearage owed by the father or the proper amount of child support to be paid by the father in the future. Instead, the court stated, "If the parties further need the Court's guidance, a hearing can be set to clarify any of the above."

"It is well established that a final judgment is a `terminal decision which demonstrates there has been a complete adjudication of all matters in controversy between the litigants.' Tidwell v. Tidwell, 496 So.2d 91, 92 (Ala.Civ.App. 1986). Further, the judgment must be conclusive and certain with all matters decided, including the assessment of damages with specificity for a sum certain determinable without resorting to extraneous facts."

Dees v. State, 563 So.2d 1059, 1061 (Ala. Civ.App.1990). See, e.g., Moody v. State ex rel. Payne, 351 So.2d 547, 551 (Ala. 1977) ("Where the amount of damages is an issue, ... the recognized rule of law in...