## Facts

- The parties divorced in Louisiana in 1996 by default after the former wife was served but filed no answer.
- The Louisiana divorce judgment was silent on any division of alleged community property.
- The former wife asserted that community property included certain Georgia real estate and a portion of the former husband’s military pension.
- In 2008, about 12 years after the divorce, the former wife filed an action in Georgia seeking equitable relief, including a constructive trust over the property and pension benefits.
- She later amended the action to seek domestication of a foreign judgment related to the alleged property division.
- The former husband denied any enforceable agreement to divide the assets and asserted laches; he contended that certain pension-related payments (2004–2006) were for the parties’ son’s college expenses, not a property settlement.
- The trial court held an evidentiary hearing, heard testimony from both parties, and found the former wife failed to act with reasonable diligence.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by finding laches barred the former wife’s claims to a share of alleged community property (Georgia real estate and military pension) asserted more than a decade after the divorce.
2. Whether the evidentiary record supported the finding that the former wife failed to exercise reasonable diligence in pursuing equitable relief.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the trial court’s dismissal.
- The court held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that laches barred the former wife’s claims.
- The court deferred to the trial court’s role as factfinder at the evidentiary hearing, including credibility determinations and resolution of conflicting testimony.

## Legal Principles

- Laches is an equitable defense that may be decided as a factual matter after an evidentiary hearing, with the trial court sitting as factfinder.
- A party seeking equitable relief must exercise reasonable diligence; a substantial, unexplained delay in asserting rights may bar relief under laches.
- On appeal, a trial court’s laches determination is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and appellate courts do not reweigh evidence or credibility findings.

## Conclusion

The court upheld dismissal because the former wife waited roughly twelve years after receiving notice of a divorce judgment that did not divide property before asserting claims to real estate and pension benefits, and the trial court acted within its discretion in finding that lack of diligence constituted laches.


Davis v. Davis, 310 Ga. App. 512 (2011)