Timothy Allen Burt v. Debra Willmon Burt

WRIGHT, Presiding Judge Timothy and Debra Burt were divorced in May 1984. Custody of their child, Steven, was given to Debra, with Timothy receiving reasonable visitation rights. After a disagreement between the parties concerning visitation, Debra filed a Petition for Modification and Temporary Injunction, seeking to restrict Timothy's visitation rights. Timothy did not answer the petition, nor did he appear at the hearing in which the Judge entered a default judgment against him, thereby terminating his parental rights. Timothy filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment pursuant to Rule 60(b), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, which was denied. It is from this denial defendant appeals. An appeal from denial of a motion for relief under Rule 609b), A.R. Civ. P., does not bring up for review the correctness of the final judgment at trial. Instead, only the question of the propriety of the judgment denying the Rule 60(b) motion is considered. our examination is limited to determining whether there was an abuse of discretion. Gallups v. United States Steel Corp., 353 So. 2d 1169 (Ala. 1978).