# C o urt o f A ppe a ls

o f th e S ta te o f G e o rg ia

ATLANTA,_

_ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _
Th e Co u rt

o f Ap p ea l s h er eb y p a s s es t h e f

o ll owi n g o r der :

A2 4 A1 37 3 . I N THE I NTEREST OF ESTATE OF LESLI E VAI L AYCOX.

W e granted an ap p lic at i o n f o r interlo c u to ry ap peal f iled by Ro d eric k A llen

A yc ox in his cap ac ity as temp o rary ad ministrato r o f the estate o f L eslie V ail A y c o x

. Ou r rev iew o f the f

u ll rec o rd , ho w ev er, sho w s t hat the c ertif ic a te o f immed iate rev iew

w as signed by a d if

f erent p ro b ate c o u rt j u d ge than the o ne w ho si g n e d the o rd er d enying p artial s u mmary j u d gment. In light o f th i s u n exp lained d isc rep anc y, this

ap p eal w as imp r o v id ently granted bec au se w e lac k j u risd ic tio n.

“ It is inc u mbent u p on this Co u rt to inqu ire into its o w n j u risd ic tio n. ” (Citatio n

o mitted .) Ba rn es v

. Ba rn es , 36 1 Ga. A p p

. 27 9 , 280 (86 4 SE2d 1 1 9 ) (2021 ). Und er OCGA § 5- 6

- 34 ( b), a p arty may ap p ly f o r interlo c u to ry ap p ellate rev iew “ [w ]here the
tri a l ju dge i n ren deri n g a n o rd e r , d e c i s i o n , o r j u dgmen t , no t o therw ise su bj ec t to d irec t

ap p eal,

. . . c ertif

ies w ithin ten d ays o f entry thereo f that the o rd er, d e c i s io n, o r j u d gment is o f su c h imp ortanc e to the c ase that immed iate rev iew sho u ld be had [. ]” (Emp hasis su p p lied

. ) See generally In the In teres t of Bru ni , 36 9 G a. Ap p

. 488, 49 0 (3) (89 3 SE2d 86 2) (2023) (rec ogniz ing that OCGA § 5- 6- 34 (b) a p p lies to interlo c u t o ry

a p p e a l s f ro m p ro bate c o urt o rd ers). “I n a c co rd anc e w ith the e mp hasiz ed p lain langu age o f [OCGA § 5- 6 -34 (b)], the same t rial j u dge w ho e ntered the o rd er in

qu estio n mu s t issu e t he c ertif ic ate o f immed iate rev iew

. ” Ma u er v

. Pa rker Fi b ern et , 306 Ga. A p p

. 1 6 0, 1 6 2 (7 01 SE2d 59 9 ) (201 0).

H ere, no thing in the ap p lic atio n materials o r the rec o r d exp lains w hy the d enial

o rd er w as signed by Fu lto n Co u nty Pro bate Co u rt Chief J u d ge K enya M

. J o hnso n, bu t
the c e r t if ic ate o f immed ia t e r ev iew w as signed by Fu lto n Co u nty Pro bate Co urt September 04, 2024A sso c iate J u d ge M arian Park er, no r d o es anything in the rec o rd ind ic ate that J u d ge

Park er w as the “ trial j u dge” f o r the p u rp o ses o f OCGA § 5- 6

- 34 (b) w he n the

c ertif ic ate w as signed

. Co mp a re Ho u ri n v

. S ta te , 301 Ga. 835, 837 (1 ) (804 SE2d 388) (201 7 ) (ev id enc e sho w ed that j u d ge w ho signed u nd erlying o rd er w a s a cting p u rsu ant

to assignment o rd er that had exp ired , and j u d ge who signed c ertif ic ate w as no w “ the
trial ju d ge” f

o r p u rp o ses o f OCGA § 5- 6- 34 ( b ) ) ; D ru i d Hi lls Ci vi c As sn

. v

. Bu ckler , 328 Ga. A p p

. 485, 488- 4 8 9 ( 1 ) ( 7 6 0 SE2d 1 94) (201 4) (interlo c u to ry a p p eal w as

p ro p e r w here certif

ic a te w as s igned by a j ud ge o f the same c o u r t “ ‘ fo r ,’ meaning ‘ o n b eha lf o f , ’ ” the o riginal j u d ge) (c itatio n o mitted ; emp hasis su p p lied ), d isap p ro v ed o n

o ther gro u nd s by Ho u ri

n , 301 Ga. at 837 (1 ), n. 2. The c ertif ic ate of immed iate rev iew
in t his c ase d o e s no t c omp ly w ith the c lear langu age o f OCGA § 5

- 6

- 3 4 (b) and the

ap p ellant has p ointed to no thing in the rec o rd p ermitting an e xc ep tio n to the s tatu t o ry mand a te.
A s a resu lt, w e d ismiss this ap p eal f o r lac k o f j urisd ic tio n. 1

C o u r t o f A p p e a ls o f t h e S t a t e o f G e o r g ia C le r k ’ s O ffic e , A t la n t a ,

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I c e r t ify t h a t t h e a b o v e is a tr u e e

x t r a c t f r o m

t h e m in u t e s o f t h e C o u r t o f A pp e a ls o f G e o r g ia

. W it n e s s m y s ig n a t u r e a n d t h e s e a l o f s a id c o u r t h e r e t o a ffix e d t h e d a y a n d y e a r la s t a b o v e w r

it t e n

.

, C le r

k

.

1 The o ral argu ment sc hed u led f o r Sep tember 1 2, 2024 is hereby c anc elled

. 09/04/2024