LexyCorpus case page
CourtListener opinion 76899
Citation: Domestic Relations Order · Date unknown · US
- Extracted case name
- pending
- Extracted reporter citation
- Domestic Relations Order
- Docket / number
- 02-00067-CV-JTC-3 RICHARD CHARLES FONTAINE
Machine-draft headnote
Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 76899 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to QDRO procedure / domestic relations order issues. The current annotation is conservative: it identifies source provenance, relevance signals, and evidence quotes for attorney/agent retrieval. It is not a Willie-approved legal headnote yet.
Retrieval annotation
Draft retrieval summary: this opinion has QDRO relevance score 5/5, retirement-division score 2/5, and family-law score 5/5. Use the quoted text and full opinion below before relying on the case.
Category: QDRO procedure / domestic relations order issues
Evidence quotes
QDRO“fore DUBINA and FAY, Circuit Judges, and GOLDBERG*, Judge. PER CURIAM: In this appeal, defendant-appellant Joan Thomas Guth (f. k. a. Joan Thomas Fontaine) appeals from the district court's determination that the 1986 Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") governing the equitable division of marital assets between defendant-appellant and plaintiff-appellee Richard Charles Fontaine remains in effect. Defendant-appellant requests that the Court reverse the district court's determination that the 1990 and 1991 QDROs, which were mutual modifications of the original 1986 QDRO, are null and void. Georgia do”
domestic relations order“orgia (March 8, 2005) Before DUBINA and FAY, Circuit Judges, and GOLDBERG*, Judge. PER CURIAM: In this appeal, defendant-appellant Joan Thomas Guth (f. k. a. Joan Thomas Fontaine) appeals from the district court's determination that the 1986 Qualified Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") governing the equitable division of marital assets between defendant-appellant and plaintiff-appellee Richard Charles Fontaine remains in effect. Defendant-appellant requests that the Court reverse the district court's determination that the 1990 and 1991 QDROs, which were mutual modifications of the original 1986 QDRO, are null and void. Geo”
valuation/division“rict court's determination that the 1990 and 1991 QDROs, which were mutual modifications of the original 1986 QDRO, are null and void. Georgia domestic relations law makes clear that post-judgment modification by a court of a divorce decree concerning the equitable distribution of property is normally not permissible. See, e.g., Williams v. Williams, 268 Ga. 126, 129, 485 S.E.2d 772, 775 (Ga. 1997) ("[A]n unexpected increase in the value of a risky * Honorable Richard W. Goldberg, Judge, United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation. 2 asset is insufficient grounds to upset the policy disfavoring modif”
Source and provenance
- Source type
- courtlistener_qdro_opinion_full_text
- Permissions posture
- public
- Generated status
- machine draft public v0
- Review status
- gold label pending
- Jurisdiction metadata
- US
- Deterministic extraction
- reporter: Domestic Relations Order · docket: 02-00067-CV-JTC-3 RICHARD CHARLES FONTAINE
- Generated at
- May 14, 2026
Related public corpus pages
Deterministic links based on shared title/citation terms and QDRO / retirement / family-law retrieval scores.
Clean opinion text
[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
March 8, 2005
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 04-12343 CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 02-00067-CV-JTC-3
RICHARD CHARLES FONTAINE,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JOAN THOMAS GUTH,
f.k.a. Joan Thomas Fontaine,
Defendant- Cross-Defendant-
Appellant,
DELTA AIR LINES, INC.,
Defendant-Cross-Claimant-
Appellee,
LARRY H. EVANS,
Defendant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
(March 8, 2005)
Before DUBINA and FAY, Circuit Judges, and GOLDBERG*, Judge.
PER CURIAM:
In this appeal, defendant-appellant Joan Thomas Guth (f. k. a. Joan Thomas
Fontaine) appeals from the district court's determination that the 1986 Qualified
Domestic Relations Order ("QDRO") governing the equitable division of marital
assets between defendant-appellant and plaintiff-appellee Richard Charles
Fontaine remains in effect. Defendant-appellant requests that the Court reverse
the district court's determination that the 1990 and 1991 QDROs, which were
mutual modifications of the original 1986 QDRO, are null and void.
Georgia domestic relations law makes clear that post-judgment modification
by a court of a divorce decree concerning the equitable distribution of property is
normally not permissible. See, e.g., Williams v. Williams, 268 Ga. 126, 129, 485
S.E.2d 772, 775 (Ga. 1997) ("[A]n unexpected increase in the value of a risky
*
Honorable Richard W. Goldberg, Judge, United States Court of International Trade,
sitting by designation.
2
asset is insufficient grounds to upset the policy disfavoring modification of fixed
allocations of economic resources distributed in a property settlement."); Spivey v.
McClellan, 259 Ga. 181, 181-82, 378 S.E.2d 123, 124 (Ga. 1989) ("Fixed
allocations of economic resources between spouses, those that are already vested
or perfected, are not subject to modification by the court while terminable
allocations are."); Coffey v. Alembik, 221 Ga. App. 501, 502, 471 S.E.2d 590, 591
(Ga. Ct. App. 1996) ("[A] modification of the provisions of the divorce decree for
the equitable division of property . . . is not permissible.").
Defendant-appellant nonetheless contends that the 1986 QDRO may be
modified by a court because the parties thereto made a "mutual mistake" in
drafting the terms of the court-approved settlement agreement. In support of this
proposition, defendant-appellant cites Georgia Supreme Court decisions which
permitted post-judgment modifications of divorce settlements in the limited
contexts of alimony and child support. See Douglas v. Cook, 266 Ga. 644, 645,
469 S.E.2d 656, 657 (Ga. 1996); Smith v. Smith, 230 Ga. 238, 240, 196 S.E.2d
437, 439 (Ga. 1973); see also O.C.G.A. § 19-6-19 (modification of child support
and alimony awards specifically allowed by statute). Because this case involves
the equitable distribution of property and not alimony or child support, the Court
declines to adopt defendant-appellant's fractured interpretation of Georgia law.
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Defendant-appellant also contends that the 1986 QDRO may be modified by
a court in order to correct a clerical or scrivener's error therein. Defendant-
appellant is correct that Georgia law gives courts the authority to correct clerical
mistakes or other similar non-substantive errors arising from oversight or omission
in judgments, orders and other parts of the record. O.C.G.A. § 9-11-60(g). Upon
a close examination of the record, however, the Court has uncovered no evidence
of such an error.
After reviewing the record, reading the parties' briefs and having the benefit
of oral argument, we affirm the judgment of the district court filed on October 6,
2003.
AFFIRMED.
4