Opinion of the Clerk No. 55

Summary

The Clerk of the Alabama appellate courts addresses whether a filing fee is required when a respondent in a post-judgment custody-modification proceeding files a contempt motion alleging nonpayment of child support. The opinion concludes that the contempt motion constitutes a separate case filing under Rule 7, Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration, requiring a $248 fee under Ala. Code § 12-19-71(a)(7), and overrules Opinions of the Clerk Nos. 37 and 44.

Holdings

1. In a post-judgment domestic-relations proceeding initiated by a motion to modify custody, a contempt motion alleging nonpayment of child support concerns a separate state of facts and constitutes the filing of a case under Rule 7, requiring payment of a docket fee even if the matters are heard together.
2. The required filing fee is $248 under § 12-19-71(a)(7), which applies to cases filed in the domestic-relations docket seeking to modify or enforce an existing domestic-relations court order.
3. Opinion of the Clerk No. 37 was explicitly overruled by Opinion of the Clerk No. 49, and Opinion of the Clerk No. 44, which relied on Opinion No. 37, is also overruled.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a contempt motion alleging nonpayment of child support, filed in response to a pending post-judgment motion to modify custody, constitutes a separate filing or case requiring a docket fee under Rule 7 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration.
2. Whether the applicable fee is the $248 fee prescribed by § 12-19-71(a)(7), Alabama Code 1975.

Disposition

other