Alan Wesley Skipper v. Jennifer Paul

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: May 24, 2019
• Docket: A19I0235
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 24, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A19I0235. ALAN WESLEY SKIPPER et al. v. JENNIFER PAUL.

Alan Wesley Skipper and Ralph Edward Cowart, Jr., the petitioners in this adoption case, have filed an application for interlocutory review of the trial court’s order granting the motion of Jennifer Paul, the child’s biological mother, to set aside the adoption decree. Generally, an order granting a motion to set aside must be appealed via interlocutory application. See Ferri v. Puckett, 241 Ga. App. 34 (525 SE2d 779) (1999); see also OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1), (b). However, OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) provides that a direct appeal may be taken from “[a]ll judgments or orders in child custody cases awarding, refusing to change, or modifying child custody,” and compliance with the interlocutory appeal procedure is not required to appeal such orders, even when the case remains pending below. See Lacy v. Lacy, 320 Ga. App. 739, 742 (3) (740 SE2d 695) (2013); Cohen v. Cohen, 300 Ga. App. 7, 8 (1) (684 SE2d 94) (2009); Taylor v. Curl, 298 Ga. App. 45, 45 (679 SE2d 80) (2009). We conclude that the order at issue here is subject to direct appeal under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) as an order in a child custody case modifying child custody. See State v. Wyttenbach, 348 Ga. App. 810 (824 SE2d 680) (2019). “This Court will grant a timely application for interlocutory review if the order complained of is subject to direct appeal and the applicants have not otherwise filed a notice of appeal.” Spivey v. Hembree, 268 Ga. App. 485, 486, n.1 (602 SE2d 246) (2004). Here, however, the applicants have already filed a timely notice of appeal in the trial court. Under these circumstances, this application is hereby DISMISSED as superfluous.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/24/2019 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.