Many divorces are uncontested, but some are contested and have issues that need to be negotiated by the parties involved or decided by a judge. Child custody is based on the best interests of the child. Child support in Georgia is done with the child support calculator. Alimony is based on various factors. Length of marriage, incomes, job and career possibilities, and education are just some of the variables considered when looking at alimony.

Child support in Georgia is based upon the child support guidelines. The guidelines take into account multiple factors, including number of children involved and the incomes of the parties. A 401 (k) is divided in a divorce using a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). How a QDRO is split between the parties is often negotiated. Once negotiated, the final agreement would be incorporated in the final divorce documents.

If you were to file for divorce, since you live in Fulton County, Georgia, you would file in the Superior Court of Fulton County. Divorce actions are brought in a superior court. And the court would be the superior court of the county where the defendant lives. As part of the divorce, we would handle all the related issues like child support, alimony and the division of property. Child support in Georgia is based upon the child support guidelines and can be tricky, but we do a lot of child support work. Alimony is based on a number of factors, including duration of the marriage and the parties’ economic positions. Retirement accounts, including pensions and 401 (k)’s, are oftentimes divided using a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (a QDRO), which can be complicated legal documents. We have written many QDRO’s for clients.

If there is not a will, the estate will go through the administration process according to state laws. This means that the assets will be distributed according to state statutes. It’s possible that his wife could actually inherit a large portion of his estate. In general, spouses who are still legally married but living apart are treated as married for purposes of splitting an estate. Unfortunately, as the fiancé, you will be entitled, most of the time, to almost nothing. You won’t be able to do such things as close his accounts or transfer his titles to yourself. Since you never married, the Georgia Department of Driver Services or bank will not allow that. The children, however, could share in his estate. As for child support for the other child, his child support obligation ended at his death. Neither the child support or college costs will be taken out of his estate. However, this child and your children (as long as they are your fiancé’s children) could be entitled to a part of his estate.

It does not matter that you were not married to the woman; you still have to pay child support for your child under Georgia law. It also does not matter that your relationship was very brief. The length of a relationship is not relevant. If you are the father of a child, you have to pay child support. To determine your child support obligation, we would need to complete the “child support worksheet.” The child support worksheet, which is created by the Georgia Child Support Commission, incorporates the guidelines used to determine child support in Georgia. The guidelines involve issues like gross income, the cost of children’s health insurance, childcare expenses and extracurricular activities, among others. You certainly need a Georgia child support lawyer who works with these guidelines regularly to help determine what your obligation could be.

The good news is that paternity can be easily determined with a DNA test. A DNA test is extremely accurate and is used throughout the United States to prove paternity. A DNA test works because we all inherit our DNA from our biological parents. Half comes from our mother and half from our father. Simply put, a DNA paternity test compares a child’s DNA pattern with that of the alleged father to determine if there is a match. When done properly, the test is about 100% accurate. Of course, if you are proven to be the father, then you will be ordered to pay child support. But if you are not the father, then you would have no child support obligation under the laws of Georgia.

Stay at home fathers are becoming much more common. We have had many clients who are men who choose to stay at home and raise their children. Just because you had an affair does not mean that you have to leave the home. In fact, if you leave, it could be interpreted as abandoning the home and it could have negative consequences for you legally. It sounds unlikely that you would be required to pay your wife alimony. You write that you haven’t worked in years because you have been home with the kids and that she is the one earning an income. Under these facts, a court would be highly unlikely to award alimony to her. Rather, she may be forced to pay alimony to you. The standard for child custody is what is in the best interests of the child. A court would seek to determine what is best for the child under all of the circumstances. You will want to show that custody would be best with you. You can demonstrate that through presenting evidence.

We’ve been getting calls and emails about the widely-reported leak of email accounts, passwords and IP addresses associated with the websites Adult Friend Finder, Penthouse.com, Stripshow.com and iCams.com. At this time, because the leak is so new, we really can’t gauge its full impact on people’s lives, although there seems little doubt that it will cause people to call divorce lawyers discuss how it can impact child custody, child support and alimony obligations.

It is very possible that your wife’s divorce attorney will be able to find your text messages and your Facebook posts. In fact, a good divorce lawyer will always try to find those types of communications to prove an extramarital relationship. The lawyer may request them in the discovery process or subpoena them. Technology has created many more places for incriminating evidence than ever before. Places like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Gmail and others can offer a treasure trove of lurid narrative and pictures. Many of these places produce evidence for us to prove that there was infidelity, an affair. And if someone is caught cheating, that can impact things like alimony, child custody and child support.

What you describe does sound very suspicious. That you never signed any documents or received anything from a court or judge indicating that you were divorced just doesn’t sound right. To be finally divorced in the state of Georgia, a judge of a superior court must sign a judgment and decree of divorce. Until those documents are signed, then you are not divorced. Call us and we can speak with you and we can do a search of court records to help determine if you are in fact divorced. If you are not divorced, then we can initiate one for you.

The Zika virus is certainly cause for concern. Pregnant women should probably not visit Brazil or any other country where the Zika virus is prevalent. There have been numerous warnings issued by public health officials. The World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) because of clusters of microcephaly and other neurological disorders in some areas affected by Zika. As for your questions, whether she has contracted Zika or not, it will likely have no bearing on child support or child custody here in Georgia. As the father, if you get divorced and are not awarded custody, you will have to pay child support. The fact that you cautioned her not to go on the trip will not make a difference. The same is true for child custody. The court’s analysis will likely not take into account your warnings of the Zika danger. The court will decide custody based upon the best interests of the child standard.

As divorce lawyers in Milton, Georgia, we have been getting a number of questions from people in Milton about divorce. I don’t know if the divorce rate in that city is higher than elsewhere (it probably isn’t) but many of the questions we’re getting seem to be about how finances are impacted with a divorce. Generally, if someone was not working and the marriage was of a certain length, then alimony can certainly come into play. And if there are children involved, then child support is often an issue. Of course, the facts regarding each matter are different, but we certainly seek to ensure that our clients get the best deal possible for their situation. Alimony can be vital to a spouse who has not worked in a number of years and child support is very important to a custodial parent raising children.

Many people suffer from mental illness and alcoholism. And many people can take medications to treat depression and there are many good programs available for drinking, including Alcoholics Anonymous. Child custody is determined by the best interests of the child standard. So if you and your wife cannot agree on a custody arrangement, then a judge will make that determination. If you wife’s metal issues and alcohol abuse will impact the children negatively, then a judge may not award her custody. If you get custody, then your wife may have to pay you child support. Alternatively, if she is awarded custody, then you may have to pay her child support. As for alimony, a number of factors are looked at, including the duration of the marriage and the ability of each party to be self-supporting. It’s interesting to note that we are getting a lot of questions about spouses who are spending a lot of time on internet social media like Facebook, to the exclusion of their partners.

If you wish to have your child support and alimony modified, you need will a lawyer here in Georgia. In fact, you will need to bring an action in the Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta. That’s because your former wife lives in Fulton County and you need to request any modification in the county where your ex-wife resides. We handle many cases for clients who live outside of the state of Georgia. Again, you cannot get the relief that you want in California because a court there does not have jurisdiction; you need to bring the action here in Fulton County.

You cannot just stop paying court-ordered child support. You need to petition the court for a hearing and demonstrate that you are entitled to a reduction. You need to prove that you are earning substantially less money now than when the ordered was entered. It’s important that you file with the court as soon as possible because child support can only be reduced going-forward; the arrears will not be reduced. Indeed, a court cannot, under Georgia law, reduce your child support arrears. As child support lawyers we get this type of question frequently. Many people are in serious need of a reduction in child support and sometimes they resort to “self-help,” that is decreasing the amount they pay on their own, without a court order. But that can be a real mistake. It needs to be done legally or else there are severe negative ramifications possible.

You must wait for a judge to make an order for the reduction of child support. You can’t just do it yourself. If you do it without a judge’s consent, you take the substantial risk of being punished for disobeying the order presently in place. There needs to be a petition filed with the court requesting a modification of your child support obligation. At a hearing you need to present evidence that your income has significantly diminished, which you can do by bringing W-2’s, tax returns and pay stubs, among other things. Of course, your wife can contest what you are trying to do, and she is able to present evidence as well and try to show the court that your income has not really changed. Or, if it has changed, that you did it purposefully to get a child support reduction. Ultimately, a superior court judge will make the decision based on the evidence presented.

You need to make sure that your attorney has all of your relevant business data. You need to demonstrate to the court that your business really is in trouble because of the impact of falling oil prices, which is, of course, beyond your control. You don’t want a judge to think that you are trying to hide assets or that you are purposely diminishing your own income to lower your child support payments. That can be done by being transparent with your income and business records. If you can show that your income is falling due to external factors, like the declining price of oil, and not because you are “cooking the books” or trying to show less income, then a court will be far more likely to base a child support award on your present and likely lower future income.

Once you adopt a child you cannot “unadopt” her. Under Georgia law, she is now your child. Because of that, you may have to pay your wife child support if you get divorced. Of course, you can request custody of the child and if you are awarded custody your ex-wife would have to pay you child support. Please call us to discuss your rights regarding child support, custody and divorce.

Other clients have told us stories of the hidden pasts of spouses. We have heard stories of former murderers, robbers, rapists, insider traders, fraudsters, drug dealers and even an alleged war criminal. To a spouse hearing about these events for the first time it can be shocking and quite painful. A court may very well find that a fraud has been perpetrated by the failure of your wife to disclose that she was a bank robber and spent time in prison. Under Georgia law, a marriage can be annulled if there is fraud. In Georgia, annulments and divorces are essentially the same thing. And in Georgia you don’t need to find grounds for a divorce. So you can likely get an annulment or a divorce. We offer a consultation so we can go over all the relevant issues, including child support, child custody and alimony.

Many millions of Americans suffer from mental illness. Just because someone is suffering from a mental illness does not mean that they cannot see their children or even have full custody of the kids. And you should certainly seek child support from him. The fact that you are taking prescription medication and that you are not violent will certainly help your case. In fact, you should be commended for seeking treatment at Peachford Hospital and Ridgeview Institute. We have handled many cases for custody, alimony and child support for people who are battling mental illness. In no way does having a mental issue mean that you are not a good parent or that you should be denied custody of your children.

If she is the custodial parent after the divorce, then you will have to pay child support. It is not relevant that she cheated with another man. Child support is meant for the children so a court will not use it to punish a custodial parent. If you, however, are the custodial parent, then you would likely not have to pay child support to her.

You cannot bring your child support modification case in a federal district court. The only place to attempt to have the child support order modified is in the Cobb County Superior Court. A federal district court lacks jurisdiction to invalidate or otherwise review a state court's decision in a support matter. Ankenbrandt v. Richards, 504 U.S. 689 (1992). The United States Supreme Court held that the domestic relations exception to federal jurisdiction "divests the federal courts of power to issue divorce, alimony, and child custody decrees.” And in Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983), the Court held that district courts do not have jurisdiction to review state court decisions or claims "inextricably intertwined" with the merits of the state court determination. Your matter is, of course, a state court determination. If your present financial circumstances change, then you may be able to successfully modify your child support.

The fact that they were not married and that he did not sign the birth certificate is irrelevant. Under Georgia law, he must pay child support. His child support obligation will be determined by the child support guidelines. The guidelines are used to calculate what his monthly payment will be. We use the child support guidelines every day and if you contact us we can determine what his monthly payment will be. The fact that he was told about his child 2 years after birth by text is somewhat suspicious. He should consider requesting a DNA test to determine paternity if there is any question whether he is the child’s father.

No, your former husband cannot just unilaterally stop paying child support. You need to file a contempt petition to have a court order him to pay you the child support. If he still refuses he can be sent to jail for contempt. That he thinks you spend too much money on yourself and that he is unhappy with your daughter’s choice of musical instrument is irrelevant. If he wants to try to modify his child support obligation, he needs to file a petition with the court and legally demonstrate why such a modification is warranted.

If your husband quits his job to avoid paying child support, the court will base a child support order on what he’s capable of earning. He cannot stop working to escape his child support responsibility. Your attorney needs to prove what his income was as a practicing dentist. That can be demonstrated by bank records, tax documents and by other means. We have been able to impute income for many clients when faced with a similar situation. We have seen executives, doctors, engineers and a host of other professionals try to shirk their responsibility to pay a fair amount of child support.