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Shahidv.Esaam

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A25A0196
DecidedJune 30, 2025
Reporter376 Ga. App. 145; 918 S.E.2d 198; 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 299; 2025 LX 214277; 2025 WL 1792657
JudgesWATKINS, Judge. Barnes, P. J., and Brown, J., concur.
Tags
CivilFamily LawDivorceService by PublicationMotion to ReopenFrivolous Motion Penalty
Case Summary

Nimat Shahid sought to reopen a divorce decree entered after service by publication, alleging her husband had not diligently tried to locate her after she moved to Texas. The trial court denied relief in an order citing two nonexistent cases, and her husband’s appellate brief also contained fictitious or irrelevant citations. The Court of Appeals held that the fake authorities rebutted the presumption that the trial court followed the law, leaving the court unable to review the service and personal-jurisdiction issue on the incomplete record; it did not decide whether service by publication was proper. It vacated the order and required a new hearing, and imposed a $2,500 penalty on the husband’s attorney for the frivolous motion and fabricated citations.

Opinion

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