Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 9-7-22 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 9-7-22 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 9-7-22

TITLE 9 CIVIL PRACTICE

Section 7. Auditors, 9-7-1 through 9-7-23.

ARTICLE 4 QUO WARRANTO

9-7-22. Auditor's fees.

  1. The fees of an auditor to whom a case, whether legal or equitable, has been referred shall be determined and fixed by the trial judge making the referral or by any other judge having jurisdiction of the case and serving in the place and stead of the trial judge. The fees so determined and fixed may be apportioned between and among the parties at the discretion of the judge.
  2. The court with consent of the parties may fix the fees of the auditor in advance and incorporate the same in the order making the appointment.
  3. The fees of an auditor, as determined and fixed by the judge, shall be included in and made a part of the judgment of the court. The fees of the auditor shall be assessed as court costs and shall be paid prior to the filing of any appeal from the judgment of the court; provided, however, that if such fees have not been determined and assessed at the time of filing any such appeal, the same shall be paid within 30 days from the date of assessment.

(Ga. L. 1894, p. 123, § 22; Civil Code 1895, §§ 4602, 4603; Civil Code 1910, §§ 5148, 5149; Code 1933, §§ 10-501, 10-502; Ga. L. 1963, p. 620, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 9; Ga. L. 1988, p. 408, § 1.)

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of law on real property, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 283 (2010).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Construction with Quiet Title Act.

- Provisions of O.C.G.A. § 9-7-22(c) requiring the payment of auditors' fees prior to the filing of an appeal did not apply to special masters appointed under the Quiet Title Act, O.C.G.A. § 23-3-60 et seq., pursuant to O.C.G.A. §§ 23-3-43 and23-3-63, and an appeal was not dismissed due to failure to pay the special master's fees. Davis v. Harpagon Co., LLC, 300 Ga. App. 644, 686 S.E.2d 259 (2009) was overruled to the extent it was to the contrary. Nix v. 230 Kirkwood Homes, LLC, 300 Ga. 91, 793 S.E.2d 402 (2016).

Apportionment of fees.

- In the allowance of auditor's fees under this section, the court may in its discretion apportion the fees between the parties. Moore v. Dickenson & Williams, 117 Ga. 887, 45 S.E. 241 (1903); Central of Ga. Ry. v. Central Trust Co., 135 Ga. 472, 69 S.E. 708 (1910) (see O.C.G.A. § 9-7-22).

Apportionment will stand unless judge abuses discretion.

- In an equitable proceeding, it is within the discretion of the trial judge to award the costs of court as the facts may warrant; and, unless the judge's discretion is abused in so doing, the judge's judgment will not be disturbed. Logan v. Mobley, 170 Ga. 615, 153 S.E. 763 (1930).

In equity cases, the judge in the judge's discretion may apportion an auditor's fee between the parties, or even award it against the successful party; and the Supreme Court will not interfere unless discretion has been abused. Hicks v. Atlanta Trust Co., 187 Ga. 314, 200 S.E. 301 (1938); Brown v. Parks, 190 Ga. 540, 9 S.E.2d 897 (1940).

Judge did not abuse judicial discretion in dividing auditor's fee and stenographic costs equally between parties, where it did not appear that the defendant administrator participated in any alleged fraud by the claimant wife in procuring the letters of administration, and the orders and proceedings for an accounting showed that there were matters of bona fide disputes between the parties, as to a part of which the defendant administrator prevailed. Brown v. Parks, 190 Ga. 540, 9 S.E.2d 897 (1940).

Entire fee may be taxed upon either party. Fitzpatrick v. McGregor, 133 Ga. 332, 65 S.E. 859 (1909).

This section provides how fee may be fixed in advance. Avera Loan & Inv. Co. v. National Sur. Co., 32 Ga. App. 319, 123 S.E. 45 (1924) (see O.C.G.A. § 9-7-22).

Cited in Augusta Naval Stores Co. v. Forlaw, 133 Ga. 138, 65 S.E. 370 (1909); Christian v. Bremer, 199 Ga. 285, 34 S.E.2d 40 (1945); Mendenhall v. Kingloff, 215 Ga. 726, 113 S.E.2d 449 (1960); Sorrentino v. Boston Mut. Life Ins. Co., 206 Ga. App. 771, 426 S.E.2d 594 (1992).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 27A Am. Jur. 2d, Equity, § 228.

ALR.

- Amount of master's fee in divorce proceedings, 89 A.L.R.2d 377.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 9-7-22

Total Results: 2  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Gwinnett Cnty. v. Vaccaro, 376 S.E.2d 680 (Ga. 1989).

Cited 19 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 9, 1989 | 259 Ga. 61

...of Dental Examiners, 240 Ga. 289 (240 SE2d 250) (1977). *63 Furthermore, neither the trial court's allocation of the costs of the monitor to Gwinnett County nor its order of affirmative injunctive relief violated Georgia law by ordering how public funds should be spent. OCGA § 9-7-22 provides that the fees for an appointed monitor may be apportioned between the parties at the judge's discretion....
Copy

Nix v. 230 Kirkwood Homes, LLC, 300 Ga. 91 (Ga. 2016).

Cited 3 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 7, 2016 | 793 S.E.2d 402

...elating to the appointment and payment of special masters, to find that Davis’ failure to pay the special master fees before filing her appeal required that the appeal be dismissed. In reaching this conclusion, the Court of Appeals reasoned: OCGA § 9-7-22 (c) provides that the “fees of the auditor shall be assessed as court costs and shall be paid prior to the filing of any appeal from the judgment of the court....
...aster.’ ” E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. v. Waters[, 298 Ga. App. 843, 845 (1), n. 2 (681 SE2d 651) (2009)]. See OCGA § 9-7-1 (“[t]he duties heretofore performed by a master in the superior court shall be performed by an auditor”). Under OCGA § 9-7-22 (c), the requirement to pay the assessed auditor fees before filing an appeal “is mandatory and jurisdictional.” Sorrentino v....
...See OCGA §§ 9-7-2 and 9-7-3. The Quiet Title Act has its own, self-contained set of provisions for the appointment of special masters that are separate and apart from those relating to the appointment of auditors under Title 9. Furthermore, whereas OCGA § 9-7-22 (c) requires that the fees of an auditor “shall be paid prior to the filing of any appeal from the judgment of the court[,]” there is no such stated requirement in the Quiet Title Act with respect to the payment of fees for a special master appointed under the terms of that Act....
...105, 106 (231 SE2d 345) (1976) (where specific statute under Quiet Title Act contained “no provision for filing exceptions to the special master’s report, the failure to file exceptions [was] not cause for dismissal of the appeal”). Accordingly, we find that the provisions of OCGA § 9-7-22 (c) requiring the payment of auditors’ fees prior to the filing of an appeal do not apply to special masters appointed under the Quiet Title Act....
...Caskey, for appellee. Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. By this ruling, we offer no judgment at this time as to whether the Court of Appeals’s opinion is correct with respect to the appellate consequences of the failure to pay an auditor’s fees pursuant to OCGA § 9-7-22 (c). We note that, based on our decision in Community II, the instant case does not present a situation where the party with a defeasible interest in a property retained title or the tax deed to the property in question notwithstanding th...