In a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision, the Court held that where the trial court dismisses your complaint for downward modification of child support because you have not complied with discovery, you have to wait two years to refile. Specifically, the Supreme Court held that it was error to allow an ex-Husband (an attorney representing himself) to refile his downward modification of child support action within the two-year of statute of limitations where the court had previously dismissed his modification action because of his willful failure to comply with his former Wife’s discovery requests. In other words, the involuntary dismissal of the civil action as a sanction for failure of his discovery compliance constituted an adjudication upon the merits of his case and was a final order on the claim for downward modification of child support, thereby precluding him from refiling prior to two years from the date of the final order. Bagwell v. Bagwell, S11A1316, decided January 23, 2012.

The moral of the ruling is not to play games with producing evidence which supports your case or your case could be thrown out. Then you would have to wait two more years to seek a support reduction.