Alimony in Athens, Georgia

Alimony may be given to a spouse if that spouse is not guilty of desertion or adultery. When deciding alimony, the judge will consider marital conduct, participation each party had to the marital estate; the length of the marriage; the future financial resources of each party; the age and health of each spouse; the future earning potential of each spouse; the net worth of each party’s separate property; the standard of living sustained during the marriage; and rehabilitative time one spouse may need to gain employment. Alimony in Athens, Georgia can be either "rehabilitative" or "permanent". Alimony is money for support given to a spouse by the other party. Alimony can be for a short or long period of time. Usually alimony is given by the court only when a long term marriage is dissolved. The other spouse has to be able to pay alimony if the court is to grant alimony to the other party. Alimony may also be awarded short-term before a final divorce decree is given. Alimony, also known as “spousal support” or “maintenance,” is designed to help a lower-earning spouse make it through the divorce and to start a new single life. Depending on the length of the marriage and the degree to which one spouse was financially dependent on the other, support can go on for a long time.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Alimony Payments in Athens, Georgia

Divorce proceedings are complicated. Any omission you make can affect the result. First of all, you must be ready for a long battle. Be warned, your spouse may fight dirty. You should be ready. Expect the worst reaction from your spouse. Never have totally unrealistic expectations or demands of what you will gain from the divorce. Make your demands reasonable and don’t expect that you’ll get everything.. The key in approaching divorces is to have realistic expectations, focus on problem solving and do everything you can to help your own case.
In Georgia, a spouse can argue that fault must be taken into consideration in determining alimony payments. You can forward this argument even if you have 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 increased. If there’s only a fixed amount of support that your errant spouse can afford, the court will not order an unrealistically huge amount. More commonly, the spouse who gets support has payments reduced because of fault. There are three types of alimony payments in Athens, Georgia:
• Permanent alimony - the spouse who pays continues the payment until death or until the spouse granted the payments remarries.
• Temporary alimony – the payments are made for a short period of time to help the receiving party to stand alone once again.
• Rehabilitative alimony – is paid to to enable a spouse with lesser employability or earning capacity become adjusted to a new post-marital life.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Athens, Georgia Divorce Settlement

In a Athens, Georgia divorce settlement, the spouses can keep the assets and liabilities each one wants, and set off the inequitable distribution with another property or a property that can be easily distributed between the two spouses like a savings account, which is much easier to divide than a retirement account. Also, tax consequences should be considered while working up a settlement. It can also happen that one party is in a better position to pay taxes on a certain asset, and would therefore take that property. If the case should go to litigation instead, the court may give the other party that particular asset, and that party can end up losing the property due of tax complications. An uncontested divorce is possibly the best form of divorce if you are looking for a divorce. An uncontested divorce is the most inexpensive kind of divorce you can get. In an uncontested divorce, both spouses work together to agree on the terms of the divorce, and file court papers cooperatively to make the divorce happen. There is no formal trial, and the spouses probably won’t have to ever appear in court. Instead, you file court forms and a “marital settlement agreement”. In a divorce settlement, since the parties created the agreement, they are more likely to follow the agreement, rather than a court order awarding issues to the spouse that did not want certain issues. This in turn keeps the spouses out of court to litigate a noncompliance after the entry of the final order.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Divorce in Athens, Georgia

Every divorce case in Athens, Georgia must go through some kind of court proceeding. Even if both parties agree about how to divide their property and handle custody, visitation, and support issues, the court will still have to award the divorce. In many states, divorce cases, contested and no-fault are dealt by a special court usually known as “family court,” “domestic relations court,” or “divorce court.” These courts generally handle with only family-related cases like divorce, child custody and support, and sometimes, adoption. Divorce in Athens, Georgia is stressful for both spouses and the children. When there are children from the marriage, the stakes are higher. Divorce in Athens, Georgia has tax implications. If you receive spousal support, you should report it as taxable income. If you are giving spousal support, you can deduct it. If you are granted spousal support, you need to plan for the potential tax consequences of the income. Unlike an employer, your former spouse won’t hold back any taxes from your support check. You can deduct spousal support payments on your income tax return, but not child support or property distributions. You can, however, make spousal support payments nontaxable and nondeductible if goes both ways and you both agree by agreeing so in your marital settlement agreement. You should consider doing this if the spouse receiving support is in a higher tax bracket than the giving spouse or if the paying spouse doesn’t need the tax deduction and the recipient spouse doesn’t want to report the income.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Athens-Clarke County, Georgia unmarried child custody lawyer

How to get child custody in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia is an issue that requires whole hearted effort from your side and there is really nothing you can leave to chance. You must leave no stones unturned, since a minor error will result in your child being taken away from you. A complete understanding of the child custody laws and the related child custody issues is important. First of all, you must consult a qualified and experienced Athens-Clarke County, Georgia unmarried child custody lawyer. Explain all matters to your attorney. Reveal everything to your Athens-Clarke County, Georgia unmarried child custody attorney. There is still a heavy bias that favors mothers over fathers, especially with smaller kids. An unmarried father in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia generally at best can only take the requisite action to gain unmarried child custody and visitation rights through the courts unless the mother is cooperative and agreeable out of court. The time and money require for an unmarried father to receive rights to his child and to prove a parenting plan can often be extensive. But, unmarried fathers must not be discouraged as more and more fathers with the assistance of an experienced and seasoned Athens-Clarke County, Georgia unmarried child custody lawyer are petitioning the court for access to their children are being awarded joint custody with parenting plans that include the child living or spending a substantial amount of time with their father.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Grounds for a divorce in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia

Cruel treatment, to be the grounds for awarding a divorce in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, should consist of the willful infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the complaining spouse, that reasonably justifies apprehension of danger to life, limb, or health. Athens-Clarke County, Georgia divorce courts will consider continuous acts of violence as a grounds for divorce but one single act of violence will not constitute cruel treatment unless that act is of such an atrocious nature that the circumstances demonstrate a probability of further acts. While mental cruelty will also constitute grounds for a divorce in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, not all mental cruelty affords a ground for divorce. Contact an experienced divorce lawyer if you are seeking divorce on the grounds of cruel treatment. Permanent and incurable insanity is a ground for divorce in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. For insanity to be considered permanently incurable, the person should have been confined in a mental institution, hospital, or other institution for at least three years, and at least two doctors competent in psychiatry should certify that the insanity is permanently incurable. You may sometimes get a default divorce. The court will give a divorce by “default” if you file for divorce and your spouse doesn’t respond to the petition despite proper service. In a default divorce, the divorce is granted even though your spouse doesn’t participate in the court proceedings at all.

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.

Athens-Clarke County, Georgia divorce lawyer

Marital property will be distributed equitably not necessarily equally amongst the spouses regardless of how the title to the property is held. There is no set formula or percentage amount used to divide marital property. Assets or debts that either spouse had before the marriage, or acquired after the permanent separation, will be considered separate property or debts. Usually, each spouse will keep their separate assets and be liable for their individual debts. If both parties can agree on how to split marital property, the court will simply approve the agreement. If the spouses don’t agree, the court will divide the assets. An experienced Athens-Clarke County, Georgia divorce lawyer can help you in the distribution of assets and liabilities in a divorce. An absolute divorce refers to a judicial termination of a marriage based on marital misconduct or other statutory reasons arising after the marriage ceremony. As a consequence of an absolute divorce both spouses’ status becomes single again. Generally, a limited divorce in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia is commonly referred to as a separation decree. The right to cohabitation is terminated but the marriage is not dissolved and the status of the parties is not altered. Athens-Clarke County, Georgia divorce attorneys are experts in the field of divorce law and willing to take on any case in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. Divorce is a difficult and even messy process to do it alone. An experienced and seasoned Athens-Clarke County, Georgia lawyer can help you in all aspects of divorce and divorce law and can assist you by:
• Filing any and all litigation concerning divorce
• Research any changes to marriage law
• Register all assets to be divided

---------------------------------Athens GA Divorce Lawyer - Athens GA Uncontested Divorce - Contested Divorce AttorneyOur family law firm handles cases in Athens, Georgia. Our Georgia divorce lawyers represent clients in Athens and the Athens-Clarke County area.