A lis pendens expires when the case it announces ends. In a Georgia divorce that means final judgment plus the time to appeal, and nothing after that.
The Rule
Vance v. Lomas Mortgage USA, Inc., 263 Ga. 33 (1993), states it. A valid lis pendens notice “remains effective as constructive notice of the action referred to therein only until a final judgment has been entered in the action and the time for appeal therefrom has expired.” The Georgia Supreme Court said the rule applies the same way to a lis pendens filed in a divorce case under OCGA 19-5-7.
The reasoning is in the name. Lis pendens means a pending suit. Once the judgment is final and the appeal window has closed, there is no pending suit for the notice to announce.
Reopening the Case Does Not Revive It
That was the whole fight in Vance. A wife filed a lis pendens on the marital residence and won a judgment awarding her half the equity. Her husband got that judgment set aside, then gave a lender a security deed on the property. A new decree later awarded her title. She lost. Her original notice had expired with the first judgment, and the motion to set that judgment aside did not bring the notice back to life, so her title was subject to the lender’s security deed.
What to Do Instead
Once you have a decree, the lis pendens has done its job and a different filing takes over. Vance holds that recording the final judgment itself, in the manner Georgia law provides for recording judgments that affect land, is what gives notice of the rights the decree created.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!