Summary
The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed a divorce decree that awarded the marital residence and certain assets to Marlene Zekser while assigning her responsibility for the marital residence and law school debts and requiring her to pay Michael an equalizing amount. The Court held that the trial court did not abuse its broad discretion in equitably dividing the marital assets and debts, including assigning the law school debt to Marlene. The Court declined to review Marlene's child-support challenge because she had not raised it in her application for discretionary review.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion by equitably dividing the marital assets and debts, including assigning Marlene sole responsibility for her law-school indebtedness.
- Whether the appellate court could consider Marlene's challenge to the child-support provisions when that issue was not enumerated in her application for discretionary review.
Holdings
- The trial court did not abuse its broad discretion in dividing the marital assets and debts, including assigning Marlene sole responsibility for the law-school indebtedness.
- An appellant forfeits appellate review of an issue that was not enumerated in the application for discretionary review, even if the issue is later included in the appellate briefs.
Key quotations
“an equitable division of marital property is not necessarily an equal division, but a fair one.” (367)
“An application for discretionary review must “enumerat[e] the errors to be urged on appeal,”” (369)
“By failing to complain in her application for discretionary review of the provisions of the decree concerning child support, Marlene has forfeited any appellate review of those provisions, and we decline to consider her additional enumeration of error.” (370)
Factual background
Michael and Marlene Zekser married in 1993 and divorced 18 years later. The trial court awarded Marlene the marital residence, a sport-utility vehicle, and her retirement account, while awarding Michael his consulting business and retirement account, and required Marlene to pay Michael approximately half of the residence equity. Marlene was also assigned responsibility for the marital-residence debt and approximately $130,000 in law-school loans; the trial court found that law school drained family resources, distracted Marlene from family obligations, and coincided with infidelity and the end of the marriage.
Procedural history
The trial court entered a final divorce decree awarding specified marital assets and assigning marital debts, including Marlene's law-school debt, entirely to Marlene, while requiring her to pay Michael $102,612. The Supreme Court of Georgia granted discretionary review, affirmed the property and debt division, and declined to consider the child-support challenge because it was not enumerated in the application for discretionary review.