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Markowitz v. Georgia Dept. of Human Resources

a father cannot be held in contempt for a dormant child support judgment that was not renewed within the ensuring 3-year period pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-12-61.

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In this discretionary appeal, Don Markowitz appeals from the trial court’s order finding him in contempt of court for failing to pay child support and ordering the release of $42,300 to Markowitz’s former wife. Markowitz contends the trial court erred by finding him in contempt because the claim for child support was “barred by the dormancy statutes.” We agree and reverse. The record shows without dispute that Markowitz and his former wife were divorced on November 21, 1975, in Fulton County Superior Court. A settlement agreement between the parties required Markowitz to pay child support until 1989, when the youngest child would reach the age of eighteen. In 2005, sixteen years after Markowitz was last obligated to pay child support, his former wife attempted to collect past due child support for the first time.

In 2008, the Georgia Department of Human Resources placed a lien upon a retirement account owned by Markowitz. Markowitz disputed the lien, and the Georgia Department of Human Resources filed a petition in Fulton County Superior Court requesting a hearing on the matter pursuant to OCGA § 19-11-37 f. It also requested that the superior court “uphold the lien of the Plaintiff and dismiss any objection of the Defendant and order said amounts to be paid to Plaintiff.” Markowitz filed an answer in which he asserted that the claim for child support was barred because it had been dormant for more than ten years.

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