Jacob v. Koslow

Buckholts v. Buckholts, 251 Ga. 58 1983 and Corbett v. Corbett, 236 Ga. App. 299 1999, do not generally expand jurisdiction in divorce cases to allow punishment of a husband or wife for contempt of an order or decree rendered in another county.

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The question for decision in this case is whether a trial court has jurisdiction to entertain a petition to hold a spouse in contempt of a divorce decree entered in another county in the absence of a petition to modify the decree. The short answer is “no.” Husband and wife were divorced in Fulton County in 1993. Sometime thereafter, both husband and wife moved to Cherokee County. In September 2005, wife filed a petition in Cherokee County to have husband held in contempt of the Fulton County divorce decree. Husband answered the complaint, raised various defenses, including lack of jurisdiction and venue, and moved for judgment on the pleadings, or, in the alternative, to transfer the case to Fulton County. The trial court denied husband’s motion but certified its ruling for immediate review. We granted husband’s interlocutory application.

In Buckholts v. Buckholts , 251 Ga. 58 302 SE2d 676 1983, the parties were divorced in Clayton County, and husband filed a petition to modify child support in Clinch County, where wife resided. When wife counterclaimed for contempt, husband asserted the court was without jurisdiction to entertain the counterclaim because actions for contempt must be brought in the offended court. This Court rejected husband’s assertion, stating: We find it necessary in the context of divorce and alimony cases to depart from the general rule that a contempt action must be brought in the offended court. We now hold that where a superior court other than the superior court rendering the original divorce decree acquires jurisdiction and venue to modify that decree, it likewise possesses the jurisdiction and venue to entertain a counterclaim alleging the plaintiff is in contempt of the original decree. Id. at 61. In so ruling, this Court noted:

Jacob v. Koslow

Buckholts v. Buckholts, 251 Ga. 58 1983 and Corbett v. Corbett, 236 Ga. App. 299 1999, do not generally expand jurisdiction in divorce cases to allow punishment of a husband or wife for contempt of an order or decree rendered in another county.

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