Smith v. Smith, 293 Ga. 563

Joel and Pamela Smith divorced after ~24 years on March 2, 2012; the final judgment awarded specific property and required Joel to make mortgage and health-insurance–related payments for Pamela.
After the divorce decree, Joel failed to: provide health insurance for Pamela, make mortgage payments on the marital home, and turn over personal property awarded to Pamela (some items were missing from the home).
Wife filed a contempt motion; the trial court found Joel in willful contempt and ordered him to make the mortgage and insurance payments, pay the fair market value of the missing personal property, and pay $500 in attorney fees to wife.
Joel sought discretionary appellate review and also moved for new trial/to set aside the final judgment, asserting impossibility to perform and alleging newly discovered evidence of wife’s adultery.
The Supreme Court of Georgia granted review and affirmed the contempt order and denial of Joel’s post-judgment motions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether awarding money for personal property in a contempt proceeding impermissibly modified the final decree	Pamela: monetary award remedies harm from Joel’s refusal to turn over awarded property	Joel: the contempt order unlawfully modified the original decree by substituting money for specific property	Court: Permissible — contempt remedies may compensate harmed party without modifying decree
Whether Joel was in willful contempt for failing to pay mortgage and secure health insurance	Pamela: decree required payments; Joel had ability to pay	Joel: inability/impossibility to perform excuses nonpayment	Court: Evidence supported willful contempt; denial of new trial/set-aside proper
Whether Joel’s depletion of the “truck account” excused payment of $4,200 awarded to Pamela	Pamela: $4,200 was part of equitable distribution and must be paid	Joel: account was spent before judgment, making the order unclear/uncertain	Court: Order clear; Joel’s depletion does not excuse compliance; contempt finding affirmed
Whether denial of new trial based on allegedly newly discovered adultery was proper	Joel: new evidence of adultery warrants new trial	Pamela: husband knew witness and failed to pursue discovery; issue was raised at trial	Court: Joel failed to show due diligence; denial of new trial not an abuse of discretion

Hughes v. Dept. of Human Resources, 269 Ga. 587 (1998) (civil contempt aims to obtain compliance and provide remedies)
Nowlin v. Davis, 278 Ga. 240 (2004) (trial court may impose remedies in contempt decrees necessitated by refusal to obey orders)
R.R.R. Ltd. P’ship v. Recreational Svcs., Inc., 267 Ga. 757 (1997) (trial court may remedy failure to comply within contempt proceeding)
Wyatt Processing v. Bell Irrigation, Inc., 298 Ga. App. 35 (2009) (trial court has discretion to craft remedies for contempt)
Gallogly v. Bradco, Inc., 260 Ga. 311 (1990) (remedies in contempt proceedings to address harm caused by contemptuous conduct)
Stanley v. Stanley, 281 Ga. 672 (2007) (omission of some marital property from final judgment does not void the judgment)
Smith v. Smith, 281 Ga. 204 (2006) (final judgment enforceable despite omissions regarding marital property)
Roddenberry v. Roddenberry, 255 Ga. 715 (1987) (standards for new trial based on newly discovered evidence)
Bradley v. Bradley, 232 Ga. 717 (1974) (appellate review of new-trial rulings for abuse of discretion)
Day v. Day, 210 Ga. 454 (1954) (due diligence requirement for newly discovered evidence)