Opinion
No. 1112
03-12-2020
KEESHA ELLIOTT v. TOLLIE ELLIOTT
Circuit Court for Montgomery County
Case No. 156385-FL
UNREPORTED
Shaw Geter, Gould, Zarnoch, Robert A. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ. Opinion by Gould, J. *This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.
On September 26, 2018, Appellant Keesha Elliott filed a "Complaint for Absolute Divorce, Custody, Alimony and Other Relief" in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. In connection with the complaint, on May 21, 2019, the court made a ruling that was memorialized in a June 18, 2019 order: 1) awarding the parties shared physical custody of their minor children; 2) awarding Ms. Elliott pendente lite child support in the amount of $5,000 per month, beginning July 2019 and continuing until the final divorce hearing; 3) denying Ms. Elliott's request for retroactive child support; and 4) deferring its decision on attorneys' fees until the hearing on the merits.
Ms. Elliott appeals from the denial of retroactive child support.
We do not reach the merits of Ms. Elliott's appeal. With limited exceptions that do not apply here, an appeal may be taken only from a final judgment. Md. Code Ann., Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 12-301 (2006, 2013 Repl. Vol). The denial of Ms. Elliott's request for retroactive child support is not a final judgment as the order did not dispose of all claims between the parties. See Doe v. Sovereign Grace Ministries, Inc., 217 Md. App. 650, 660 (2014) (internal quotations omitted) ("A 'final judgment' is a judgment that 'disposes of all claims against all parties and concludes the case.'"). Ms. Elliott's appeal is, therefore, premature.
APPEAL DISMISSED. COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLANT.