Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

On April 28, 2009, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed an Order of the Dekalb County Superior Court finding a wife in contempt of the equitable distribution portion of the parties’ divorce decree. Farris v. Farris (S09A0302). Following a November 13, 2007 bench trial, Judge Castellani made an oral ruling regarding equitable distribution of the parties’ assets, but did not formalize this ruling until over a month later. The divorce decree provided that the wife shall place the marital residence on the market and shall control all aspects of the listing and sale for six months. If the residence did not sell within six months, the husband would take over control of the listing and sale, and this process shall repeat every six months until the house sold. The parties were to equally split the proceeds from the sale and the house was not to be sold for less than $650,000.00.

After the oral ruling but before entry of the final decree of divorce, the husband offered to purchase the wife’s interest in the house for $325,000, but the wife rejected this offer. Shortly after the final decree was entered, the wife accepted an offer on the house from the parties’ daughter in the amount of $650,150, which the husband rejected. The wife then filed a motion to hold the husband in contempt for rejecting this offer and the husband filed a motion for contempt against the wife for rejecting his offer. The Judge found the wife in contempt.

The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, stating adamantly that the wife could not be held in contempt of the divorce decree because there was no divorce decree entered at the time of husband’s offer. “Before a person may be held in contempt for violating a court order, the order should inform him in definite terms as to the duties thereby imposed upon him, and the command must therefore be express rather than implied. [Cit.]" (Punctuation omitted.) Hall v. Nelson, 282 Ga. 441, 444 (3) (651 SE2d 72) (2007).” Simply put, an oral Order is not sufficient for contempt. A person is not bound by a divorce decree until it is in writing and entered by the court.

With the ongoing real estate decline, couples involved in a Cherokee County divorce are finding that the most difficult piece of property to deal with in equitable distribution is the marital residence or a vacation home. At present, both parties find it impossible to refinance the existing mortgages before or after their Cherokee County divorce because of the real estate’s declining value. In addition, selling the real estate presents several major concerns considering that the property will most likely sit on the market for several months if not years. If you have hired a Cherokee County divorce lawyer, you can help him or her out by trying to resolve these issues with your spouse on your own:

1) Who will make the mortgage payments?

2) What if the party responsible for making the payments simply fails to make them?

3) Who is in charge of maintaining the property?

4) Where does the money come from for necessary repairs?

5) Who selects the real estate agent both initially and when the initial contract expires?

6) Who decides the appropriate sales price?

7) What if the parties have to come to the table with money?

8) What if the appraisal does not come in high enough to justify the purchase price?

If you are having problems reaching common grounds on these issues, your Cherokee County divorce lawyer should be able to help you. You can also explore two other options, including the short sale and a sale at a public auction.

As we have discussed on previous blogs, Georgia is an equitable distribution state which means that a division of marital assets does not have to be equal, but merely a fair division of property. While there are a number of factors to consider as part of equitable distribution, one of the most difficult ones is how to measure each party’s contributions to a marriage. While financial income generated is obviously easy to objectively measure, it is the non-financial contributions that are particularly challenging to consider.

So what are judges and lawyers looking at when measuring non-financial contributions? Generally speaking, these contributions cover two particular areas: household duties and parental tasks. Household duties range greatly from family to family but generally cover items such as: who does the cleaning, washes clothes, cooks meals, yard work and landscaping, grocery shopping, household and car repairs, financial management and record keeping, pet care, and purchases (from groceries, clothes, household items to larger personal property items such furniture, cars, and property).

Parental tasks, on the other hand, include everything from waking up a child in the morning to putting them to bed at night. This would include taking a child to school and other extracurricular activities, feeding a child, helping a child with homework, attending teacher conferences, and taking a child to a doctor. Obviously, these lists are not meant to be fully comprehensive of the contributions but are intended just to give you a start on thinking about what are each parties non-financial contributions to a marriage. With a little work developing a detailed list of these various non-financial contributions and the contributions made by both parties, appropriate consideration can be given to these non-financial factors when evaluating whether a particular divorce should deviate from an even fifty-fifty split of assets.

On May 4, 2009, the Supreme Court affirmed the ruling in the Atlanta Divorce case of Patel v. Patel (S09F0505), In this case, This case involved a long marriage of 22 years. The Husband was a doctor who operated his Atlanta medical practice out of a condominium purchased during the marriage and the Wife did not work. The Fulton County divorce judge awarded the Husband the office condominium housing his medical practice as part of equitable division. The Wife believed that this was an error and appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, but the Supreme Court upheld the Fulton County divorce judge’s ruling.

In an Atlanta divorce case, the fact finder (the trial judge in this case), has broad discretion to distribute marital property to assure that property accumulated during the marriage is fairly divided between the parties. Given the overall distribution of assets between the parties and the trial court’s findings of fact specific to the office condominium, the Supreme Court could not find any evidence that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding the office condominium to Husband.

On January 29, 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court, which held that the Husband’s claim for indemnification under the divorce settlement agreement was barred by res judicata. In Stone v. Stone, (A08A2020), the parties separated on August 28, 2005 and the Husband filed for divorce shortly thereafter. During the pending divorce, the Wife obtained five cash advances from an equity line of credit on the marital home and used the money for her own personal expenses. The Wife disclosed this action prior to finalizing the divorce and the parties’ settlement agreement reflected that the Husband would retain the marital home, but that the Wife would be responsible for, indemnify and hold Husband harmless from any liability arising out of this debt.

After the trial court entered a final decree incorporating the terms of the settlement agreement, the Husband sued the Wife for indemnification on the equity line of credit. The trial court dismissed the action after the Wife argued that Husband’s claim was barred by the prior divorce action because it could have been resolved at that time. The Court of Appeals disagreed, stating that “the breach allegation was not – and could not have been – adjudicated in the divorce proceeding, which concluded when the parties settled the case…” The Court of Appeals did not reach the merits of the Husband’s claim, but reversed the trial court’s dismissal.

Adultery on the part of one spouse can affect many aspects of a divorce in Georgia, including alimony, equitable distribution, and even child custody. If a spouse’s adultery was the cause of the divorce, the adulterous party is barred from receiving alimony. Thus, if you can prove that your spouse committed adultery and that the adultery caused the separation; your spouse will not be successful on an alimony claim in Court.

Alimony also comes into play in equitable distribution. Generally, equitable distribution results in splitting the marital estate 50/50, unless there is a reason to give one spouse a greater portion of the marital estate. One reason to give one spouse a disproportionate amount of the marital estate is the bad conduct of the other party, which can include adultery. If an adulterous spouse committed egregious adultery in the presence of the other spouse and/or children, this conduct may result in an unequal split of the marital estate. Similarly, if the adulterous spouse spent substantial marital funds on his or her paramour, the other spouse could get a disproportionate amount of the marital estate to make up the difference and even punish the adulterous spouse.

Alimony can also affect child custody. In determining child custody, the Court is primarily concerned with the best interests of the children. If a parent has committed adultery in the presence of the children and brings his or her paramour around the children, this parent is acting contrary to the children’s best interests, which could result in that parent losing a custody battle.

As an Atlanta divorce lawyer, our law firm is often confronted with dealing with issues of adultery as they related to a divorce. In Georgia, adultery on the part of one spouse can affect many aspects of a divorce proceeding, including alimony, equitable distribution, and even child custody. In order to get to the point that adultery will affect a divorce case, you must prove the adultery, which can be very difficult. Since there is rarely direct proof of adultery, most times it must be proved by circumstantial evidence.

If you and your spouse share cell phone accounts, look at the itemized statements to see if there are substantial calls to a certain number. If you share an email address, you can look at incoming and outgoing emails. If you do not share phone or email accounts, we do not recommend breaking into your spouse’s account if he or she has not given you access, as this could be a criminal violation and the resulting information will likely be inadmissible in Court.

Once a divorce case is filed, however, you will be able to obtain information from your spouse through discovery that may provide evidence of his or her adultery. You can request anything that is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, which includes phone records, emails, other correspondence, bank statements, and credit card statements. Phone records may show numerous calls to a paramour. Emails may show correspondence between your spouse and a paramour. Bank and credit card statements may show evidence of substantial funds spent on flowers, hotels, and other gifts that you did not receive.

Continue reading "How can I prove my spouse’s adultery? " »

On January 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Georgia addressed an interesting issue regarding equitable division of marital property in the Georgia divorce case of Smith v. Smith (S08F1706), where the parties had married and divorced each other twice. The parties were first married in 1979 and divorced in 1988. The remarried in 1999 and divorced in 2008. The trial court awarded the Wife, among other property, a portion of the Husband’s military retirement pay, and the Husband appealed that specific award.

The Husband argued that he retired from the military in 1995, between the parties’ first and second marriages and, thus, his military retirement pay was his separate property, not subject to equitable distribution. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed and reversed the judgment of the trial court. The Court held the military retirement pay to be the Husband’s separate property because all contributions to the plan predated the second marriage (i.e. there were no contributions during the second marriage) and, since the Wife was not awarded any portion of this account in the first divorce, that account became the Husband’s separate property at that time.

In Rumley-Miawama v. Miawama (S08F1541), the Supreme Court of Georgia heard a Wife’s appeal from the judgment in her divorce case. The Wife was unhappy with the visitation, child support and equitable division of property portions of the trial court’s judgment.

In regard to child support, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s decision not to apply a deviation from the child support guidelines for equal parenting time and held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in choosing not to apply this deviation. The Supreme Court pointed out that the trial court did use its discretion to give the Wife a deviation for travel expenses.

The Supreme Court of Georgia did agree with the Wife that the trial court erred in including a self-executing change of visitation provision in its judgments. The visitation portion of the judgment, which takes effect if Wife moves out of state and significantly limits her visitation, was reversed, as the Supreme Court held that it failed to reflect consideration of the best interests of the children, which is of paramount importance in Georgia.

Continue reading "Georgia Case Law Update – Visitation, Child Support, Marital Property " »

According to O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2, you can be awarded attorney’s fees in a divorce, but the award of attorney’s fees is ultimately decided by the judge assigned in your case. After the judge hears testimony from both you and your spouse, he or she will look at the facts of the case and base his or her decision on one factor – the financial circumstances of both parties in a divorce. O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2(a)(1). This is similar to the award of alimony in a divorce case because the judge will look at both parties’ incomes and decide on one party’s ability or inability to pay attorney’s fees and the other party’s need for attorney’s fees. Even though you may ask for attorney’s fees, there is no guarantee that the judge will actually grant attorney’s fees in your case.

If the judge awards attorney’s fees in your divorce, the judge will sign a Final Order showing the amount of attorney’s fees that your spouse is required to pay. One of the disadvantages about the judge awarding attorney’s fees in your case is that amount of attorney’s fees that the judge awards in his Final Order may or may not reflect the total amount of attorney’s fees that you incurred in your divorce according to § 19-6-2(a)(2). The judge could actually award an amount less than what you incurred.

When the judge is determining the amount of attorney’s fees, he or she may look at several factors. The judge may review the invoices from both you and your spouse’s attorneys and determine if the amount that you incurred is fair. When reviewing the invoices, the judge may look at the hourly rates of staff at your law firm, such as the attorney, associate attorney, and/or paralegal working on your case, as well as the charges that you incurred as compared to those hourly rates and charges that your spouse incurred from the opposing law firm. As we mentioned previously in this blog, it is difficult to determine whether someone will be awarded attorney’s fees since the award is based on the sole discretion of the judge and because each divorce case and each judge is different, it is difficult to determine whether he or she will award attorney’s fees in your particular divorce case.

The exact statutory authorization for attorney’s fees under the Official Code of Georgia is:

Continue reading "Attorneys Fees in a Georgia Divorce under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-2 " »

In a divorce, it is common for the parties to have join debt. While there is a lot of focus on dividing up the assets of a marriage, often, not enough attention gets paid to dividing up the debt of a marriage.

A final divorce decree (or settlement incorporated into a final divorce decree) is a court order. Court orders regarding responsibility for payment of debts and liabilities are effective between you and your former spouse, but do not bind a joint creditor that you and your former spouse share. If you still maintain joint credit cards with your former spouse, the only sure way to protect yourself against liability for further charges is to cancel the credit card.

Your Decree should indicate which party is to assume responsibility for payment of certain debts or obligations. For example, if your former spouse is awarded the marital residence and is ordered to assume full responsibility for the payment of the mortgage (but fails to make the payment), the creditor will most likely look to you for the payment of the mortgage until such time as your former spouse removes your name from the mortgage.

Continue reading "Joint Debts and Divorce" »

This blog entry regarding tax issues related to a divorce is intended to alert you to issues to think about and provide some basic information. Before you sign any tax return or take any action with respect to your federal or state income returns, please review your situation with your current tax advisor.

Change of Mailing Address
You may officially notify the I.R.S. that you have changed your mailing address from the address used on your last tax return by filing I.R.S. Form 8822.

Alimony
Spousal support or alimony is taxable to the recipient and deductible from the income of the payor if all I.R.S. requirements are met. Lump sum alimony is not deductable. For more information see Divorced or Separated Individuals - IRS's Form 504.

Child Support
Child support payments are not deductible from the income of the payor or taxable to the recipient. For more information see Divorced or Separated Individuals - IRS's Form 504.

Dependency Exemption for Minor Children
Unless specifically addressed in your Decree, generally the custodial parent will be entitled to claim the dependency exemption for the minor children on his or her income tax return. The custodial parent may execute I.R.S. Form 8332, releasing the dependency exemption to the non-custodial parent. Release of Claim to Exemption
for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents - I.R.S. Form 8332.

Continue reading "Divorce and Taxes" »

According to O.C.G.A. § 44-1-1, there are two types of property – real property and personal property. Real property or “realty” is defined by O.C.G.A. § 44-1-2 as not only the land, but any buildings attached to it. If the parties own a home, then the marital home is real property.

All other possessions that the parties own, such as furniture, televisions, and automobiles, are items of personal property. Personal property or “personalty” is defined by O.C.G.A § 44-1-3 as anything that is movable, has a value, and is not real property. Basically, it is anything that is not permanently attached to land.

One big national debate that is occurring is whether pets are personal property (like their furniture) or are not property at all (like children). Several states have created a new “quasi-property” definition for pets that handles their division more like children. Georgia, however, has not adopted a quasi-property status for pets and, as such, are currently considered just another item of personal property that the parties own. O.C.G.A. § 44-1-8. The practical effect is that a “best interest” of the children type of standard is not necessarily how a property division decision will be made by a court as it is in other states.

In the United States, property, assets, and debts are generally divided in one of two different ways during a divorce. In a community property state, each spouse is automatically entitled to one-half of the marital estate. In an equitable division state, each party receives an “equitable portion” of the marital estate but that does not necessarily mean that each party is entitled to exactly one-half of the estate. In the United States, there are nine community property states, which include Arizona and California, and the remaining states, such as Georgia, are equitable division states.

Prior to discussing Georgia’s equitable distribution of marital property further, it is important to first understand what is and is not marital property. Martial property is the real and personal property and assets acquired by the parties during the marriage. Moore v Moore, 249 Ga. 27 (1982). Marital property does NOT include a property that one party brought to the marriage or property that one acquired during the marriage by gift, inheritance, bequest, or devise unless the appreciation in the value of said property was caused by efforts of the other property during the marriage. Payson v Payson, 274 Ga. 231 (2001) and Bailey v Bailey, 250 Ga. 15 (1982). Of note, gifts between spouses of marital property remain marital property subject to equitable division. McArthur v McArthur, 256 Ga. 762 (1987).

In regards to what the court ultimately determines is marital property, the Supreme Court has reiterated as recently as October 27, 2008 that equitable division does not necessarily mean an equal division of property. Arkwright v. Arkwright, S08F1399 (2008). Instead, the court is given broad discretion to determine, based upon the facts in any given case, how the division of marital assets shall occur. Trial courts tend to exercise this broad discretion by looking at the various factors such as each party’s contribution to the acquisition and maintenance of the property, the purpose and intent of the parties regarding the ownership of the property, the duration of the marriage, any prior marriage of either party, the conduct of the parties during the marriage and as cause of divorce, and the contribution or service of each spouse to the family unit. Yates v Yates, 259 Ga. 131, Moore v Moore, 249 Ga. 27 (1982), Lowery v Lowery, 262 Ga 20 (1992), and Peters v Peters, 248 Ga. 4980 (1981).