Sometimes in divorce cases, parties think that they have "settled" their case and don't need to attend the hearing because they have "agreed to everything," even though there is no signed settlement agreement. The Supreme Court of Georgia recently heard a case that cautions against this very issue. Pennington v. Pennington, 291 Ga. 165 (2012). In Pennington, the court scheduled a jury trial to begin on a Monday, with the custody issues to be decided by the judge the previous Friday. Id. The parties were notified of the dates in a status conference and also received written notices via mail. Id. at 2. The night before the hearing, the parties discussed settlement, but the wife would not sign an agreement. The next morning, the husband found a note from the wife on his car stating that she wanted to settle, though she did not communicate this desire to the court nor attend the scheduled custody hearing that day. Id. The husband appeared at the hearing where the court refused to accept the note as proof of settlement, struck the wife's pleadings, and awarded the husband sole custody and all marital property. Id. The wife appealed, contending that the trial court "abused its discretion by striking her pleadings and proceeding to a bench trial as a sanction for her failure to appear." Id. at 3.
The Supreme Court of Georgia disagreed with the wife, stating that "[a] trial court may strike a party's pleadings as a proper sanction for willful refusal to participate in the proceedings pursuant to a court's inherent power to efficiently administer the cases upon its docket, as well as its power to compel obedience to its orders and control the conduct of everyone connected with a judicial proceeding before that court." Id. at 3. The wife had proper notice but still failed to appear or inform the court of the reason for her failure to appear and the court was,thus, authorized to strike her pleadings. Id. at 4.
The Court was not persuaded by the wife's argument that she was excused from attending the hearing because she thought the case was settled. The Court emphasized that, regardless of her intent in leaving the note, "it is undisputed that she never communicated to the court her intent to settle and she failed to provide any notice to the court of her reason for not appearing." Id.at 4. In affirming the trial court's decision, the Court sternly held that "a note from one party to another abdicating all responsibility and authority in resolving a dispute" does not excuse a party's failure to communicate with the court and participate in a scheduled proceeding. Id. at 5.
The lesson to take from Pennington is to attend every scheduled court hearing unless you have confirmation from the court that there is no reason to attend. Even if you think you have settled your case, make sure you have a signed settlement agreement that has been filed with the court (and confirm that the court has received it!) before deciding not to attend.