Question:     My ex-girlfriend is threatening to make me pay her alimony because we were dating for about 7 years and we never got married.  She said that she was going to speak with a lawyer about getting money because I said I was going to marry her and I never did.

We were dating for 7 years but I after a while I just couldn't see marrying her.  I found out that she was really pretty boring when it came down to it.  She never wanted to go out, not even for dinner.  She just liked to stay at home and watch TV.  When I'd plan a night out she always had something better to do like wash her hair, dust around her apartment or clean out her car.  I think she has a mental illness.

So finally I told her that we weren't going to get married.  She said that it was just because I didn't want to spend money on a ring.  But that's not true.  Then she accused me of seeing another lady.  But that's not true either.  Although I did meet a girl recently who I'd like to date.

A day ago I got a letter from her asking me to pay her money.  She said that since I never kept my promise to marry her that I owed her alimony.

I need to know if she can get alimony even though we were never married.

R.S. in Roswell, Georgia

Answer:     Since you were never married she can't seek an award of alimony.  Alimony is only awarded in Georgia if a couple was married. 

This is a question that we get maybe once a month or so.  We think it stems from some older high-profile cases from California where celebrities have been sued for “palimony.”  Headlines stemmed from cases involving notables like Liberace, Martina Navratilova, Bill Maher, Lee Marvin, Billie Jean King and Van Cliburn.

But even in California, courts have not awarded alimony to couples who were never married.

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