Blach v. Diaz-Verson

810 S.E.2d 129
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 5, 2018
DocketS17Q1508
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 810 S.E.2d 129 (Blach v. Diaz-Verson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blach v. Diaz-Verson, 810 S.E.2d 129 (Ga. 2018).

Opinion

Boggs, Justice.

In this case involving the interpretation of the 2016 amendment to Chapter 4 of Title 18 relating to garnishment proceedings, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia has certified the following question for this Court's consideration:

Whether an insurance company is a "financial institution" under the Georgia garnishment statute when the insurance company is garnished based on earnings that it owes the defendant as the defendant's employer.

For the reasons explained below, we answer this question of first impression in the negative.

The relevant facts are as follows. Harold Blach filed a garnishment action against AFLAC to collect a $158,343.40 judgment that he obtained against Sal Diaz-Verson. He sought to garnish funds that AFLAC periodically pays to Diaz-Verson based on Diaz-Verson's former employment with the company.1 Since December 2015, Blach has regularly *131filed summonses of garnishment against AFLAC, and AFLAC has deposited more than $140,000 into the court's registry.

Effective May 12, 2016, however, the legislature enacted a new chapter governing garnishments in Georgia. Under OCGA § 18-4-1 et seq. (the "new garnishment statute," Ga. L. 2016, p. 8, § 1/SB 255), different forms are required for summonses of garnishment for general garnishments,2 which provide for a 29-day garnishment period, and for garnishments on a financial institution, which provide for a five-day garnishment period. See OCGA § 18-4-4 (c) (2) and (4) ; see also OCGA §§ 18-4-71, 18-4-74 through 18-4-77. After the effective date of the new statute, Blach used the general garnishment forms found in OCGA §§ 18-4-71 and 18-4-74, and AFLAC garnished payments to Diaz-Verson for 29 days after receiving each summons of garnishment.

Diaz-Verson filed motions to dismiss all garnishments filed after May 12, 2016, arguing that because Blach used the general form instead of the form for financial institutions, a portion of the funds in the court's registry must be released back to Diaz-Verson.3 See OCGA § 18-4-7 (d) ("When a plaintiff uses the incorrect form for a summons of garnishment of any type, the garnishment shall not be valid and the garnishee shall be relieved of all liability."). The district court was inclined to agree with Diaz-Verson that the garnishment period is five days, because AFLAC is a financial institution for purposes of the Georgia garnishment statute, and that Blach therefore used the wrong form. But the court found it prudent and consistent with comity principles to give this Court an opportunity to determine what the garnishment statute means, saying that an argument can be made that a "plain meaning interpretation cannot be what the General Assembly intended."

OCGA § 18-4-1 (4) defines "financial institution" as

every federal or state chartered commercial or savings bank, including savings and loan associations and cooperative banks, federal or state chartered credit unions, benefit associations, insurance companies, safe-deposit companies, trust companies, any money market mutual fund, or other organization held out to the public as a place of deposit of funds or medium of savings or collective investment.

Blach argues that a plain reading of this subsection makes clear that a "financial institution" is a broad term for "bank," and an insurance company is only a "financial institution" when it is answering a garnishment that seeks to garnish a fund or account. He asserts that because AFLAC makes payments to Diaz-Verson that are akin to wages, it is not a "financial institution" for purposes of the garnishment statute. On the other hand, Diaz-Verson argues that the plain language of OCGA § 18-4-1 (4) dictates that an insurance company is a financial institution and that there is no language that limits the institutions listed to "a commercial or savings bank" as Blach suggests. The parties do not dispute that AFLAC is an insurance company. And as explained by AFLAC, Diaz-Verson "is a former employee of AFLAC, and AFLAC is indebted to [him] pursuant to certain contractual agreements ... under which semi-monthly payments are made .... The contractual agreement ... also calls for a quarterly payment of certain perquisites to ... Diaz-Verson."

"When we consider the meaning of a statute, we must presume that the General Assembly meant what it said and said what it meant." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Deal v. Coleman, 294 Ga. 170, 172 (1) (a), 751 S.E.2d 337 (2013).

*132[A]nd so, we must read the statutory text in its most natural and reasonable way, as an ordinary speaker of the English language would. The common and customary usages of the words are important, but so is their context. For context, we may look to other provisions of the same statute, the structure and history of the whole statute, and the other law-constitutional, statutory, and common law alike-that forms the legal background of the statutory provision in question.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Zaldivar v. Prickett, 297 Ga. 589, 591 (1), 774 S.E.2d 688 (2015) ; see also FDIC v. Loudermilk, 295 Ga. 579, 588 (2), 761 S.E.2d 332 (2014) ("[W]e look not only to the words of [a] provision, but we consider its legal context as well. After all, context is a primary determinant of meaning. (Citation and punctuation omitted.)").

Prior to the 2016 amendment to the statutes governing garnishment proceedings, the Code provided only for a general garnishment, see former OCGA §§ 18-4-1

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
810 S.E.2d 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blach-v-diaz-verson-ga-2018.