Christopher Scott Williams v. Tyra Crawl

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,_________________ May 24, 2012

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A12D0388. CHRISTOPHER SCOTT WILLIAMS v. TYRA CRAWL.

Christopher Scott Williams seeks discretionary review of an order that finds him in contempt for failing to meet child support and alimony obligations that arose from the parties’ 2009 divorce decree. The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over “[a]ll divorce and alimony cases.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Par. III (6). In Georgia, when the obligation to pay child support arises from a prior divorce proceeding, child support is a form of alimony. See Spurlock v. Dept. of Human Resources, 286 Ga. 512, 513 (1) (690 SE2d 378) (2010); Jones v. Jones, 280 Ga. 712, 715-716 (2) (632 SE2d 121) (2006). As the trial court’s contempt finding was based on Williams’s failure to pay child support and alimony, it appears that jurisdiction lies in the Supreme Court. See Spurlock, supra; Rogers v. McGahee, 278 Ga. 287, 287-88 (1) (602 SE2d 582) (2004); Smith v. Smith, 254 Ga. 450, 452 (2) (330 SE2d 706) (1985). This application is therefore TRANSFERRED to the Supreme Court for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 05/24/2012

Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,_________________ 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.