Paulk v. Paulk, 249 So. 3d 521

Mother appealed after this court in Paulk v. Paulk reversed parts of a 2015 trial-court judgment (contempt finding and offsets regarding school-related expenses) and instructed the trial court to recalculate amounts owed.
Mother moved (Nov 2016) for an order implementing this court’s remand and requested transfer to Judge Walter Honeycutt because Judge Donald Banks had retired.
On Jan 10, 2017, Judge Honeycutt entered an order; it was set aside the next day as a clerical error and a new order, signed by Retired Judge Banks, was entered on Jan 11, 2017.
Mother filed postjudgment motions (Feb 2017); Retired Judge Banks denied them and mother appealed (Mar 2017).
This court raised, sua sponte, whether Judge Banks’s retirement rendered the Jan 11, 2017 order void for lack of valid appointment and requested briefing from the parties.
Record contained no order showing Judge Banks had been validly appointed as a temporary judge; the court concluded he lacked authority and held the Jan 11, 2017 order void, dismissed the appeal, and instructed the circuit court to set aside the void order and proceed on remand.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of Jan 11, 2017 order signed by Retired Judge Banks	Mother sought enforcement of this court’s remand and treated the Jan 11 order as the operative remand implementation	Father did not contest lack of appointment; no party asserted a valid appointment existed	Retired Judge Banks had no valid appointment; the Jan 11, 2017 order is void
Whether a void order supports an appeal	Mother proceeded with appeal from the Jan 11 order	Father effectively relied on the order; neither argued the appointment issue	A void judgment cannot support an appeal; appeal dismissed
Need for remand disposition after voiding the order	Mother wanted remand calculation completed per prior opinion	Neither party produced appointment evidence; court invited briefing	Case remains pending in trial court to comply with prior remand; court did not preclude lawful reappointment of Judge Banks
Whether court must raise judge-appointment jurisdictional defect sua sponte	Implied: mother did not argue appointment validity	Implied: father did not argue validity	Court properly raised and decided the jurisdictional issue ex mero motu

Paulk v. Paulk, 217 So.3d 899 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) (prior appellate decision reversing contempt and offset and remanding for calculation)
Ex parte K.R., 210 So.3d 1106 (Ala. 2016) (orders entered by an unappointed temporary judge are void)
Colburn v. Colburn, 14 So.3d 176 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009) (a void judgment will not support an appeal)