Harvey Vincent v. Brandi Cheyanne Vincent

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ January 30, 2015

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A15D0227. HARVEY VINCENT et al. v. BRANDI CHEYANNE VINCENT.

Harvey Vincent and Annie Nell Vincent, the paternal grandparents of minor children L. G. V. and B. T. V., filed a petition for grandparent visitation. Their former daughter-in-law, Brandi Cheyanne Vincent, was named as respondent. The trial court denied the grandparents’s petition, and they filed this application for discretionary appeal.

Under OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11), “[a]ll judgments or orders in child custody cases awarding, refusing to change, or modifying child custody or holding or declining to hold persons in contempt of such child custody judgment or orders” may be appealed directly. Under Georgia law, “[v]isitation is considered a custody issue.” Daniels v. Barnes, 289 Ga. App. 897, 899 n. 1 (658 SE2d 472) (2008); see also OCGA § 19- 9-41 (4) (defining “child custody proceeding” as “a proceeding in which legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child is in issue.”). Thus, the order that the grandparents seek to appeal is directly appealable.

Ordinarily, we will grant a timely application when the lower court’s order is subject to direct appeal. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (j). In this case, however, the grandparents have already filed a notice of appeal from the trial court’s order. Accordingly, this application is superfluous, and it is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 01/30/2015

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.