Child Custody: Which Factors Determine it?
Several different factors come into play when determining child custody. There is no presumption that children are generally better off living with their mothers and visiting with their fathers. There are two basic forms of custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody refers to the rights of the parents to decision-making concerning the children. […]
Why is Child Support So Complicated?
One of the more frustrating uncertainties in contested divorce is determining the amount of child support a non-custodial parent will pay to a custodial parent. It would be so easy if I could simply tell my clients: “Child support is 25% of the non-custodial parent’s gross income.” Child support, however – like so many other […]
What does it Mean to File for Divorce?
Divorce is a legal remedy that is granted by a Georgia county Superior Court. Courts are able to grant divorces in response to lawsuits that are filed and pend before them. The first step, then, to obtaining a divorce is to ask for or “file for” one. In nearly all lawsuits, one party has to […]
What is a Divorce?
Marriage is a legal status. A legal status is a means of classifying people and conferring certain benefits and responsibilities upon them. We recognize many different legal statuses in Georgia. “Minor” is a legal status generally for those persons under the age of eighteen. “Emancipated” or “sui juris” — generally over 18 and able to […]
Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: 4 Expenses You Should Not Spare in Divorce
Getting a divorce is expensive. It has a profound financial impact on your life; instead of one house payment, your family now has two. If you and your spouse don’t agree on how to divide the marital property, then you’re looking at a contested divorce. In a contested divorce, it’s critical to prepare your case for […]
What is Contempt of Court, and Should You Be Worried?
One of the scariest family law documents to receive is one asking that the recipient be found in “contempt of court.” These documents are titled a variety of different ways (petition for contempt, motion for contempt, citation for contempt, motion for attachment of contempt, etc.), but they all carry the distinctive tone of being in […]
Why No-Fault Divorce is an Important Option
This poor woman has been getting lots of internet snickers over her recent divorce petition. Apparently, in Nigeria, women are not entitled to get a divorce from their spouses simply because they want a divorce. A party seeking a spouse is forced to go into court and prove a good reason for getting out of […]
Let’s Talk About Gay Marriage
Georgia is a conservative state; I get it. There is very little conservative Georgians love more than telling other people how they “ought” to live. It’s fun to have a lot of good advice for sharing. Giving advice is what I do for a living. Outside of the immediate Atlanta area, Georgians are largely opposed […]
What Happens in Georgia, Stays in Georgia
The question of jurisdiction (whether a court has authority to decide a particular action) is always an issue in divorce, contempt, and modification cases. The general rule is that a defendant has the right to be sued in the county where that defendant resides. A Fulton County father who wants to sue his Cobb County ex-wife […]
Red Flags in Divorce Cases
1. Separating Mobile Phone Bills: This happens all the time, but why? Why would a spouse suddenly decide she needed to have her own mobile phone plan? Why would he coincidentally get a new phone “just for work?” While not always significant, changing one spouse’s access to information about the other’s personal phone is a […]