Doane vs. LeCornu, 289 Ga. 379, 711 S.E.2d 673 (2011).
Pursuant to the parties’ divorce decree, the ex-husband was required to make certain payments to the ex-wife. He fell behind in these payments and the ex-wife filed a contempt action against him. After a hearing, the trial court found the ex-husband in contempt for his failure to make the required payments and ordered him to sell his lake house and to pay his ex-wife from the proceeds of such sale. The ex-husband appealed.
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the trial court’s decision concerning the sale of the lake house. Such a sale was not required in the parties’ divorce decree. Property division in a divorce decree cannot be modified. Thus, the trial court ordering him to sell the property amounts to an impermissible modification of the divorce decree.