Divorce judgment reversed where there was an $18 difference in child support amount between the Settlement Agreement and the child support guidelines. Trial court’s order failed to set forth mandatory findings for deviation from guidelines, and Wife’s voluntary agreement to deviation cannot cure this defect. Attorney’s fee award cannot stand absent required findings of fact… Read More
Husband and Wife were divorced pursuant to a Total Judgment and Decree of Divorce entered on June 5, 2009. During the trial of the case, the trial court refused to allow Wife to introduce evidence of a Temporary Order that had been entered in the divorce action on February 15, 2007. Wife contends that evidence… Read More
If a full and fair trial on the merits is provided, the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not required a State to provide appellate review, even in termination of parental rights cases.
Facts and Trial Court: After hearing evidence from DFACS and a clinical psychologist about the minor child’s (C.A.L)’s abuse at the hands of Father, stepmother, and cousins on Father’s side, the trial court concluded that the child was deprived under the definition set forth in O.C.G.A. § 15-11-2, and awarded custody to Mother. Court of… Read More
Father claimed that DFACS improperly placed him on child abuse registry after he entered a safety plan with Mother following allegations of child abuse. Safety plans are not agreements that may be enforced by DFACS; they are merely suggestions designed to prevent need for DFACS to take custody of the children who are subject to… Read More