Charles Joseph Kratz v. Belinda Kay Nelson Kratz

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Baker, Bray and Overton
Argued at Norfolk, Virginia
CHARLES JOSEPH KRATZ
v. Record No. 2213-94-1 MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY
JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON
BELINDA KAY NELSON KRATZ OCTOBER 17, 1995
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK
Alfred W. Whitehurst, Judge
Anthony S. Mulford for appellant.
Charles R. Hofheimer (Charles R. Hofheimer,
P.C., on brief), for appellee.
Charles Joseph Kratz appeals the circuit court's pendente
lite order allowing custody of his two children to remain with
his wife Belinda Kay Nelson Kratz. Because this order is an
interlocutory decree rather than a final decree, we dismiss the
appeal.
The Court of Appeals has appellate jurisdiction over the
final decrees of a circuit court in domestic relations matters
arising under Titles 16.1 or 20, as well as any interlocutory
decree or order involving the granting, dissolving, or denying of
an injunction or "adjudicating the principles of a cause." Code
§ 17-116.05(3)(f) and (4). An interlocutory order that
adjudicates the principles of a cause must determine the rights
of the parties and must "of necessity affect the final order in
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
the case." Pinkard v. Pinkard, 12 Va. App. 848, 851, 407 S.E.2d
339, 341 (1991). The mere possibility that the order may affect
the final outcome does not necessitate an immediate appeal.
Polumbo v. Polumbo, 13 Va. App. 306, 307, 411 S.E.2d 229, 229
(1991).
The pendente lite custody award in this case is not a final
decree; it does not grant, dissolve, or deny an injunction; it
does not affect necessarily the final decision in the circuit
court divorce suit. Accordingly, the order is not appealable at
this time.
The appeal is dismissed.
Dismissed.
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