Ozell Wright v. Agatha Bimha

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 4, 2018
• Docket: A18A1513
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ May 22, 2018

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A18A1513. OZELL WRIGHT v. AGATHA BIMHA

Ozell Wright filed a petition for legitimation and for custody/visitation of his child. The trial court granted Wright’s petition, but also ordered that Wright pay child support to the child’s mother, Agatha Bimha. Wright’s notice of appeal and brief on appeal seek to challenge the trial court’s child support calculation. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Appeals from orders in domestic relations cases must be pursued by discretionary application. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2). “[C]ompliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Fabe v. Floyd, 199 Ga. App. 322, 332 (1) (405 SE2d 265) (1991). Although OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (11) permits a direct appeal from child custody orders, Wright does not challenge the custody ruling on appeal, and the issue raised on appeal governs whether a custody order may be appealed directly. See Voyles v. Voyles, 301 Ga. 44, 47 (799 SE2d 160) (2017) (an appeal in a domestic relations case in which custody is not at issue must be brought by discretionary application). Wright’s failure to follow the discretionary appeal procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/22/2018 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.