We granted discretionary appeal in this case involving the trial court’s attempt to change an order in a legitimation petition from a dismissal with prejudice to a dismissal without prejudice. As the trial court was without authority to make this change, we reverse. Amber Ivery and Jermaine Brown are the parents of L. I., who was born in March 2008. Brown, acting pro se, has filed multiple petitions seeking to legitimate L. I. and to challenge the amount of child support awarded to Ivery. He filed his first petition in July 2008, seeking legitimation, custody, and child support, and Ivery counterclaimed for custody and support. In September 2008, Ivery and Brown mediated a temporary agreement regarding child support, but in December 2008, Brown filed a new petition seeking to reduce the amount of child support he had agreed to pay Ivery. As the first petition was still pending and the child support award was temporary, the trial court dismissed Brown’s second petition in February 2009.
On April 24, 2009, the trial court held a final hearing on the first petition and counterclaim, at which Brown appeared pro se. That same day Brown filed his third civil action, which was an exact duplicate of his first petition for legitimation, custody, and visitation. On May 12, 2009, the trial court issued a final order on Brown’s first petition, apparently unaware Brown had filed another one. The court noted that in December 2008, it had sanctioned Brown for failing to respond to Ivery’s discovery and ordered him to respond, but Brown had not done so, leading Ivery to move in January 2009 to strike Brown’s petition for legitimation, custody, and visitation. The court heard Ivery’s motion to strike at the final hearing in April 2009, and granted the motion in its final order, finding that Brown “willfully failed to provide responses, both written and documentary, to Ivery’s Notice to Produce.” Brown’s claims having been dismissed, Ivery remained the sole legal custodial parent of L. I. Based on the Child Support Worksheet and the requirements of OCGA § 19-6-15, the court ordered Brown to pay Ivery $581 per month for support of the child. Finally, the court found Brown in willful contempt of court for failing to pay Ivery child support under the terms of the temporary agreement for three and a half months before the hearing, although he purged himself of the contempt at trial by issuing a check to Ivery for $1,540. The court also ordered Brown to pay Ivery’s attorney $500 for having to pursue the contempt claim.
