Atkins v. Estate of Callaway, 329 Ga. App. 8

Estate sued Atkins in Harris County for dispossessory after Callaway's death; magistrate ordered rent into court registry and issued writ of possession.
Atkins appealed the dispossessory order to the superior court and separately filed a probate claim against the Estate seeking accounting of an oral contract.
The dispossessory action and Atkins’s probate claim were consolidated; trial court dismissed the probate claim and Atkins’s appeal from the dispossessory action.
This Court previously upheld the dismissal in Atkins v. Estate of Callaway, Ga. App. (Oct. 11, 2013) (unpublished); reconsideration denied; certiorari denied by Supreme Court.
On Oct. 23, 2013, while the appeal was pending, the trial court ordered rent monies released to the Estate and Atkins to pay an additional $2,500 in rent.
This Court held the trial court lacked jurisdiction because remittitur had not yet been filed, rendering the orders null and requiring reversal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does the trial court lack jurisdiction to release rent and require more rent while appeal pending?	Atkins contends ongoing appeal keeps jurisdiction with the lower court.	Estate argues trial court acted within its powers pending appeal.	Yes; trial court lacked jurisdiction; orders reversed.

Chambers v. State, 262 Ga. 200 (Ga. 1992) (remittitur timing governs trial court jurisdiction)
Styles v. State, 245 Ga. App. 90 (Ga. App. 2000) (remittitur filed to resume trial court authority)
Tavakolian v. Agio Corp., 309 Ga. App. 652 (Ga. App. 2011) (before remittitur, trial court actions void)
Morris v. Morris, 226 Ga. App. 799 (Ga. App. 1997) (nullity of trial court actions cannot be ignored)