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Final Copy 289 Ga. 821 S11F1035. KENT v. KENT. NAHMIAS, Justice. Appellant challenges a divorce decree and the trial court's post-decree order denying his motion for a copy of the trial transcript. We hold that the trial court erred in denying the transcript motion, and we should not resolve the challenges to the divorce decree without the transcript. Accordingly, we reverse the transcript order and remand the case. 1. On July 15, 2009, Stacey Kent ("Wife") filed for divorce from her

husband of 23 years, appellant Jeffrey Kent, Sr. ("Husband"). On November 15, 2010, the trial court held a bench trial at which both parties appeared and were represented by counsel. A court reporter was also present at the request of Wife's attorney. At the outset of the trial, the court asked who had requested the court reporter, because in the Toombs Judicial Circuit, court reporters are nonsalaried and available at civil trials only when requested by one or both parties. Wife's attorney responded that he had requested the court reporter, while Husband's attorney remained silent. The court then said, "So you will be responsible, then, for her cost," to which Wife's attorney replied, "Yes." Again,

Husband's attorney said nothing. At the conclusion of the trial and after the judge had left the bench, the court reporter, whose tape recorder was still on, asked for clarification regarding whom to bill for attending the trial and taking notes of the proceedings. Wife's attorney said, "It's up to [Husband's attorney] if he wants in on it or not," to which Husband's attorney replied, "I'm going to let [Wife's attorney] have it." Husband asserts that an official transcript has been prepared from the court reporter's notes, although he cites nothing in the record to support this assertion. Wife denies that an official transcript has been prepared. On November 23, 2010, the trial court wrote the parties a letter, which was later filed, with findings of fact and conclusions of law. After receiving the letter, Husband filed a motion to require the court reporter to transcribe her notes and provide him with an official transcript of the trial. The motion twice acknowledged that Husband "declined to participate in the takedown costs at the time of the trial" but claimed that factual findings in the letter ruling misstated the parties' stipulations and were improperly based solely on argument of counsel and not evidence. Thus, the motion said, "it is now imperative that a transcript of the proceedings be produced" so that Husband could effectively
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appeal the divorce decree. Husband added that he was now willing to pay the entire cost of having the court reporter appear at the trial and of having her transcribe her notes to prepare an official transcript. On December 20, 2010, the trial court entered a divorce decree conforming to the letter ruling. On January 5, 2011, the court held a hearing on Husband's transcript motion. The court said that it understood why the court reporter asked for clarification at the end of the trial about whom to bill and expressed regret that the court had not "done a better job" at the start of the trial "to have gotten that question answered." However, on January 19, 2011, the trial court entered an order denying the transcript motion. The court found that Husband and his counsel "made a conscious, intentional decision to remain silent" when the court made an on-therecord inquiry into which party would be responsible for the takedown costs and "a definitive ruling at the commencement of the proceedings that [Wife] would be solely responsible for the costs of reporting." The court also found that Husband's failure to participate in the takedown costs was intentional and "not due to inadvertence or mistake." The court declined to allow Husband to "take

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advantage of his opponent by only agreeing to pay for the costs of the court reporter now that he is certain that he needs the transcript." Pursuant to this Court's former pilot project for divorce cases (now set forth in Supreme Court Rule 34 (4)), we granted Husband's application for discretionary appeal, and he filed a timely notice of appeal. He also filed an "Extraordinary Motion for Relief" seeking immediate review of the order denying his motion for a copy of the transcript, which we decided to resolve along with the appeal. 2. (a) In civil cases, a court reporter and official transcript are not generally required, although a transcript may be needed to obtain full appellate review. See, e.g., Harrington v. Harrington, 224 Ga. 305, 306 (161 SE2d 862) (1968) ("Since the other enumerations of error require a consideration of the evidence adduced at the trial, and there being no transcript of the evidence in the record, they cannot be considered."). Compare OCGA

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