Background
Brandi Maddox and Roger Hubbard, Jr. are the parents of two minor children. In a legitimation action, the trial court previously entered a temporary order establishing Hubbard as the children’s legal father and setting visitation. After the trial court later found Maddox in contempt, she appealed, but the Court of Appeals dismissed that appeal as abandoned when she did not timely file an enumeration of errors and brief.
On June 22, 2026, the trial court entered another temporary order awarding Hubbard sole legal and physical custody. Maddox timely applied for discretionary review, including to challenge the custody ruling.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals granted Maddox’s application. Although domestic-relations appeals ordinarily begin with an application for discretionary appeal under OCGA § 5-6-35, Georgia law permits a direct appeal from orders in child-custody cases that award, refuse to change, or modify custody.
Because the temporary order awarded Hubbard sole legal and physical custody, it was directly appealable under OCGA § 5-6-34(a)(11). Under OCGA § 5-6-35(j), the court therefore had to grant Maddox’s timely discretionary-review application.
Key Takeaways
- A temporary order awarding child custody is directly appealable in Georgia.
- A timely discretionary-review application must be granted when the challenged order is directly appealable.
- Maddox had ten days to file a notice of appeal in superior court unless she had already done so.
Why It Matters
The order confirms that the appealability of a custody ruling depends on the substance of the order, not merely its placement in a domestic-relations case. Litigants challenging an order that awards or changes child custody may proceed by direct appeal.