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Final Copy 288 Ga. 577

S10F1357, S10F1358. WILLIS v. WILLIS; and vice versa.

BENHAM, Justice. These appeals from the entry of a judgment and decree of divorce are before the Court by way of this Court's grant of the parties' applications for discretionary appeal under this Court's pilot project pursuant to which we grant all non-frivolous applications from the entry of a final judgment and decree of divorce. Wright v. Wright, 277 Ga. 133 (587 SE2d 600) (2003). Carl J. Willis II and Kimberly Spence Willis were married on September 9, 2006, and separated in April 2008. Husband filed a complaint for divorce in March 2009, and the judgment and decree of divorce was entered on January 6, 2010. The trial court incorporated into the final decree the parties' agreement concerning the marital home and that neither party would pay spousal support, and the trial court awarded the parties shared joint legal and physical custody of the sole child born of the marriage, with the parties exercising physical custody of the child on alternate weeks. Solely for purposes of calculating child support, the trial court designated Husband as the non-custodial parent and found his monthly income to be $4,166 and Wife's monthly income to be $2,333. After noting that Wife was paying monthly health insurance premiums of $208 to cover the child, the trial court ordered Husband to pay monthly child support of $961 to Wife and to divide evenly with Wife the child's uninsured health-

care expenses. The decree required the parents to consult and confer with each other on "major decisions" regarding their child and required the parties to use the services of a co-parenting counselor should they reach an impasse prior to exercising final decision-making authority. Wife was given authority to make final decisions with regard to the child's non-emergency health issues and his religious upbringing, while Husband was given authority to make final decisions on matters of the child's education and extra-curricular activities. The final decree also provided that Wife could request hair follicles from Husband four times a year in order to test for illegal substances. Husband was ordered to pay $7,000 in attorney fees to Wife's counsel. On appeal, Husband complains the trial court abused its discretion and unjustly enriched Wife when it did not make a deviation in the presumptive child support on account of the equal division of child custody, and erred when it authorized drug-testing of Husband without any evidence of current or recent drug usage by Husband. In Case No. S10F1358, Wife takes issue with the award of shared physical custody of the child and with Husband having final decision-making authority on childcare and education. Wife also maintains that the trial court and members of the court's staff acted improperly while the case was pending in the trial court, to Wife's detriment. 1. OCGA

Download S10F1357. WILLIS v. WILLIS 1-24-11 Substitute opinion issued. .pdf

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