Opinion
No. 50, 1999.
May 27, 1999.
Appeal from the Family Court, CN89-7547.
AFFIRMED.
Unpublished Opinion is below.
IRA M. EPSTEIN, Respondent Below-Appellant, v. MARSHA J. EPSTEIN, Petitioner Below-Appellee. No. 50, 1999. Supreme Court of Delaware. Submitted: April 28, 1999. Decided: May 27, 1999.
Family Court of the State of Delaware, in and for New Castle County File No. CN89-7547.
Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, WALSH, and HOLLAND, Justices.
ORDER
This 27th day of May 1999, upon consideration of the appellant's opening brief and the appellee's motion to affirm, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The appellant, Ira Epstein ("Father"), filed this appeal from an order of the Family Court, which denied Father's motion to vacate a permanent default support order entered by a Family Court Master and dismissed Father's petition for a review de novo. Father also appeals an award of attorneys fees to the appellee, Marsha Epstein ("Mother"). Mother has filed a motion to affirm the Family Court's judgments.
(2) This Court has considered the record and the parties' respective positions on appeal very carefully. We find the Family Court's findings of fact to be amply supported by the record and its conclusions of law to be free from legal error. Consequently, we have concluded that the Family Court's dismissal of Father's petition for review de novo should be affirmed on the basis of the Family Court's well-reasoned decision dated October 1, 1998.
(3) Moreover, although Father purports to appeal from the Family Court's award of attorneys fees, he did not raise any argument in the body of his opening brief challenging the Family Court's January 14, 1999 ruling that ordered the payment of fees to Mother's counsel. Father therefore has waived this issue on appeal. See Turnbull v. Fink, Del.Supr., 644 A.2d 1322, 1324 (1994).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Mother's motion to affirm is GRANTED. The judgments of the Family Court are hereby AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Joseph T. Walsh Justice