Athens GA family law law firm - Athens-Clarke County divorce attorney

Athens GA family law law firm - Athens-Clarke County divorce attorney

An important factor that can affect an award of maintenance is the property to be maintained or divided by the parties. If the spouse seeking maintenance has been a stay at house parent, but wishes have significant assets after divorce or has individual assets, like a trust fund, the judges attitude towards the award of maintenance request be influenced. The judge will certainly consider a request for maintenance under these circumstances more adversely than a request made by a spouse who is receiving no assets in the divorce or who does not have any individual property.

The health of the party seeking maintenance is an important factor that can influence a courts decision in deciding spousal support. If the party requesting maintenance has a enervating physical condition that impacts whether or how much they can work, the court will not want to impoverish that party after divorce and the judge will be more likely to use maintenance to address at least basic living needs.
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Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Athens Georgia child custody attorney - Athens-Clarke County family lawyers

Athens Georgia child custody attorney - Athens-Clarke County family lawyers

Legal Custody & Physical custody in Georgia

Legal custody is the legal authority to take major decisions on the child's behalf. Major decisions include where the child will go to school, the type of education, the form of religious upbringing, and non-emergency medical decisions.

Sole Legal Custody

The parent having the sole legal custody is the only person who has the legal authority to make major decisions on behalf of the child. These decisions include decisions regarding education, religion, and health care.

Joint Legal Custody

Joint legal custody means that both parents have the legal authority to make major decisions for the child. Remember that parents may have "joint legal custody" without having "joint physical custody." Physical custody refers where the children live the majority of the time.

Sole Physical Custody

In sole physical custody, the child physically stays at one location. In most cases, the non-custodial parent is given generous visitation rights, including sleepovers.

Joint Physical Custody

Joint physical custody is also called "Shared Custody," "Shared Parenting," or "Dual Residence." In type of custody, the children stay with one parent for part of the week or part of the year, and with the other parent during the remaining time. The time spent at each location is almost equal.

Birds Nest Custody
Birds nest custody refers to a situation when the children live in one central location, and the parents rotate in and out of the children's home on a regular schedule.---------------------------------
Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Madison County GA divorce lawyer - How To establish Adultery

Madison County GA divorce lawyer - How To establish Adultery

Athens GA contested divorce lawyer

There likely is nothing like a pleasant adultery case; as names, dates, places, paramours, and the like have to be brought out in pleading.

You will need a corroborative witness, like a mutual pal or neighbor, who has nothing to do with the case except informing the court what he/she witnessed.
The majority of adultery lawsuits are demonstrated by circumstantial evidence, meaning that you have to establish that your spouse had the disposition and opportunity to commit adultery.

Adulterers are not equal under the blanket of the law. Under Georgia law, adultery will affect custody if the adultery is proven to have harmed or impaired the children. Adultery will not necessarily affect spousal support awards in Georgia. It can, meanwhile, be a ground for consideration in awarding alimony.---------------------------------
Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Athens GA divorce attorneys - Grounds for divorce in Athens-Clarke County GA

Athens GA divorce attorneys - Grounds for divorce in Athens-Clarke County GA

To obtain a divorce on one of the twelve "fault" grounds, one should establish that there was some wrongdoing by one of the parties to the marriage. For example, one fault ground is adultery. Adultery in Georgia includes heterosexual and homosexual relations between a married individual and another individual. Desertion is another fault ground for divorce in Georgia. A divorce can be granted on the grounds that an individual has deserted his or her spouse willfully for at least a year.

Mental or physical cruel treatment, marriage between persons who are too closely related, mental incapacity at the time of marriage, impotency at the time of marriage, force or fraud in obtaining the marriage, pregnancy of the wife unknown to the husband at the time of the marriage, conviction and imprisonment for certain crimes, habitual intoxication or drug addiction, and mental illness are the other fault grounds.

Georgia has the option of no-fault divorce. In a no-fault divorce, you do not have to prove that your spouse is to be blamed for your decision to seek divorce, all you need to do is tell the court that you and your spouse have irreconcilable differences or have suffered an irremediable breakdown” of your marriage.
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Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Oconee County GA alimony lawyers - Athens-Clarke County divorce lawyers

Oconee County GA alimony lawyers - Athens-Clarke County divorce lawyers

Divorce and Property in Athens-Clarke County GA

One of the most difficult and complex areas of divorce is the division of marital property. Marital property is all assets obtained during the marriage, except for assets received by gift from a third party or by inheritance. Each party is entitled to an equitable share of all property obtained during the marriage. The Judge will determine on the division of marital property. Marital property will be divided equitably not necessarily equally amongst the spouses regardless of how the title to the property is held. There is no fixed formula or percentage amount used to distribute marital property.

In Athens GA, a spouse can request that fault must be taken into consideration in determining spousal support. You can forward this argument whether or not you filed for divorce on the basis of fault. If the higher-earning spouse is guilty of adultery, was abusive, or is for some other reason at fault for the divorce, the support payment may be higher. If there is only a fixed amount of support that your errant spouse can make, the judge shall not order an unrealistically huge payment.

Generally, the spouse who gets support has payments reduced because of fault. In GA the support payments (if any) can definitely influence how the marital property distribution is awarded, which is why it can become a very important part of the final outcome of any divorce.
Spousal support, also called alimony or maintenance, is meant to help a lower-earning spouse make it through the divorce and the transition into a new single life. Based on the length of the marriage and the degree to which one spouse was financially dependent on the other, support can last for many years. Spousal support falls into two broad categories: short-term support and long-term or permanent support. Reimbursement support is a kind of long-term support.

A spouse may also get temporary support before the divorce is final. Alimony is payment by one party to the other for the others support and maintenance. The court may award alimony to either the husband or the wife. Alimony can be for a limited period of time or until the spouse receiving alimony dies or remarries. Alimony may be paid in one payment of money or property, or it may be paid over a period of time.
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Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Oconee County GA family law attorney - Madison County custody lawyer

Oconee County GA family law attorney - Madison County custody lawyer

Child Support in Athens-Clarke County GA

Under Georgia law both parents are required to support their children until a child reaches the age of twenty, dies, graduates from high school, marries, is emancipated, or joins the military, whichever event occurs first. The non-custodial parent will be required to pay a reasonable amount of child support to the custodial parent for the child's living expenses. Child support, in addition to a monthly or weekly sum, can also include such items like health insurance and payment of medical and dental expenses.

From January 1, 2007, the guidelines for determining child support based on a new income shares model which will take into account the income of both the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent became effective. The child support rules are a minimum basis for calculating the amount of child support and will apply as a rebuttable presumption in all legal proceedings involving the child support responsibility of a parent.

The Court will not direct parents to pay for college. However, parents may agree to pay child support beyond the age of 18 or to pay for college expenses.
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Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Oconee County GA property division attorneys - Athens-Clarke County family lawyer

Oconee County GA property division attorneys - Athens-Clarke County family lawyer

Child Custody cases in Oconee County GA

The well being of children is of major concern to the Court. Neither parent is for sure entitled to child custody. The court considers at the best interests of the child when deciding the proper parent to have custody. The judge looks at many factors when deciding custody. Those factors are the age and sex of the child, compatibility with each parent, and the ability of each parent to care for and nurture the child. A child above 14 years of age can decide which parent will have custody with the consent of the court. In election situations, however, the trial court has a wide latitude and discretion in deciding if the selected parent is a fit and proper person to have custody. As to a child at least 11 but not 14 years old, the court will look at the wishes, if any, and educational needs of the child in determining child custody between the parents, but the court will have complete discretion and the child's desires will not be controlling. Law considers it important for a child to maintain a relationship with both parents; and so visitation rights are awarded to the parent who is not given legal custody of the child.

The court in its discretion can award joint child custody instead of sole child custody. There are two kinds of joint custody. Joint legal custody means that both parents have equal rights and responsibilities for major decisions concerning the child. Joint physical custody means that physical child custody is shared by the parents in such a way to assure the child substantially equal time and contact with both parents. In awarding joint custody, the judge may order joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or both.---------------------------------
Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce Attorney

Our family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.