The Georgia Court of Appeals recently affirmed the grant of a petition for legitimation over the mother’s appeal. Murray v. Hooks, A11A1824 (2012). In that case, the father filed a petition for legitimation and was awarded temporary custody due to the mother’s incarceration. Id. at 1-2. A few months later, after a hearing that the mother failed to attend, the trial court entered a final order of legitimation and awarded custody to the father. Id. The trial court subsequently granted the mother’s motion to vacate the final order and scheduled a bench trial in the case. Both parties appeared at the trial where the trial court awarded joint legal custody, with primary custody to the father and visitation to the mother. Id.
The mother appealed, alleging “the trial court erred in its custody award and violated her due process rights by failing to provide her an adequate opportunity to be heard.” Id. at 1.The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed, noting that the mother received adequate notice of the trial and the trial court’s final order indicated that she attended the trial. Id. at 3.Though there was no transcript included in the record, the Court noted that“[i]n the absence of a transcript, we must assume the trial court’s findings were supported by evidence presented, and the actions taken by the trial court during the hearing were appropriate.” Id. at 3, citations and punctuation omitted. The Court further pointed out that there were no due process violations based on the court’s prior hearings held in the mother’s absence because the original final order was vacated and the temporary order was replaced by the order coming from the trial,which she did attend. Id. at 3-4.