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In the Supreme Court of Georgia

Decided: March 18, 2013

S12A1803. EAST v. STEPHENS. BLACKWELL, Justice. When Leon East and Donia Stephens were divorced in 2002, they entered a settlement which was incorporated into their divorce decree. By their settlement, East and Stephens agreed that Stephens would have custody of their two minor children, and East would pay $125 each week to Stephens as child support and would reimburse Stephens for certain miscellaneous expenses that she incurred for the benefit of the children, including "one-half of the minor children's school expenses."1 East later petitioned for a modification of the decree, and the trial court granted that petition in part in March 2011, directing East to pay $904 each month to Stephens as child support. The order of modification said nothing expressly about miscellaneous expenses, but it

The settlement specified that the miscellaneous school expenses include "lunches; snacks; school supplies; clothing; and extracurricular activities."

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specified that any and all other provisions of the incorporated settlement "not modified herein shall remain in full force and effect." Following the modification, Stephens moved to have East held in contempt for, among other things, his failure to pay half of miscellaneous expenses that she incurred on behalf of the children in the amount of $991.89. In the final contempt order, entered in February 2012, the court below held East in contempt for that failure, as well as other failures to meet his court-ordered obligations. The court specifically rejected East's contention that the March 2011 modification discontinued and superseded his obligation in the 2002 decree and incorporated settlement to pay half of the miscellaneous expenses. In that regard, the court found that the issue of miscellaneous expenses had not been raised in the final modification hearing, that the court would not have had jurisdiction to modify the miscellaneous expense provision, and that the March 2011 modification left such provisions of the original decree in full force and effect. East appeals,2 contending that he could not be held in contempt for failing to pay miscellaneous expenses for the children when the modification
We granted an application for discretionary review that East had timely filed pursuant to OCGA

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Georgia Law