Instead, the court takes a closer look at various aspects of your marriage and each spouse’s financial situation. Here’s what the courts consider when determining alimony:

• The standard of living established during the marriage
• The duration of the marriage
• The age and physical and emotional condition of both parties
• The financial resources of each spouse, including separate property
• The time necessary for the supported spouse to gain sufficient training or education for employment
• The contribution of each spouse to the marriage, including homemaking and helping the other spouse’s career or education
•  The financial condition of each party, including debts and liabilities
• Any other relevant factors determined by the court

The court weighs these factors and others to determine if alimony is appropriate and what the type, duration and amount should be.

How long do you have to be married to get alimony in Georgia?

The duration of your marriage plays a critical role in determining alimony. There’s no minimum amount of time you must be married to receive spousal support.

However, generally, the longer the marriage, the more likely the court is to award alimony. Long-term marriages may result in longer periods of support, whereas short-term marriages might lead to a brief term or no alimony.

Can you avoid paying alimony if your spouse cheated on you?

Infidelity can indeed impact alimony in Georgia. If your spouse cheated, it could lead to a reduction or complete denial of their request for spousal support. The court may view their adultery as a factor that caused the marriage to end.

However, if you are the higher-earning spouse and committed adultery, the court might award alimony to your spouse as a result.

Who qualifies for alimony in Georgia?

Qualifying for alimony hinges on a few conditions. If you’re seeking support, you must demonstrate a financial need and that your spouse has the ability to pay.
The court will then use the factors above to decide if you qualify for alimony and what the terms should be. This process seeks to ensure that both parties can transition into their post-divorce lives with financial stability.

A seasoned divorce attorney can help ensure the alimony process is handled correctly. They will guide you through the complexities of your case and represent your interests for an equitable outcome.

For many people whose spouses are not paying child support or spousal support as they’ve been ordered, the outlook is grim. It seems like there is very little that can be done legally to get them to make the payments.

A Recent Story of an Extraordinarily Committed Deadbeat

According to a recent story in Global News online, a man was finally caught and will face trial after years of going to extraordinary lengths to avoid his responsibility.

The father was ordered to pay child support all the way back in 1989. He claimed he was unable to work and thus could not afford the order, which was then reduced. Then, it was discovered that he was operating a very successful internet business which he ultimately sold for $2 million. Subsequently the support order was increased significantly.

In response, the man fled the country.

Recently he was found in Calgary, Canada, living under a fake name.

He has been arrested and will face charges for avoiding his child support obligations.

What We Can Lear From This

The first takeaway from this story is that support orders can be modified. On both sides, the story shows the court changing the support order to accommodate the changing circumstances. If you need your support orders changed, this is a hopeful sign.

The second – and most important – takeaway is that you should never lose hope. This case took decades, and it is highly unlikely your spouse will go to such lengths. In the vast majority of cases, the non-paying spouse is found easily and the situation is remedied.

Do not be afraid or discouraged if your spouse isn’t making the ordered support payments. Talk with an experienced lawyer you trust and stay persistent in protecting your rights.

The one bright spot in divorce was that the spouse making alimony payments would at least get a deduction on the payments. Not for long.

New Tax Plan to Tax Paying Spouse for Alimony Payments

Friday, December 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the new US tax bill into law, according to CNN News.

Further, AP News claims that “One provision scraps a 75-year-old tax deduction for alimony payments” and explores the consequences of this provision.

Currently, and for a long time, the spouse paying alimony could deduct these payments when filing their tax returns. In this paradigm, spouses receiving the payments are taxed on them. But with the new plan, the receiving spouse will not be taxed, but the paying spouse will.

Concerns About this New Plan

There are always concerns when new legislation comes down from Washington, and this current tax plan is no exception.

The first concern, as is always the case with new legislation, involves the complications that these changes will nave for divorcing parties and their attorneys. Negotiations become more complicated for sure, and it will take time for everyone to fully understand how the tax plan will have to play out in actual divorces.

Another problem is that, at least according to AP News, this plan will result in less overall money per dollar actually ending up in the alimony recipient’s hands. Of course this is not desirable. Further, it hinders negotiations as there will be less bargaining room when it comes to alimony.

There is nothing we can do to change the new tax law in the near future. The only thing you can do is work with an attorney who understands these new laws and their implications – someone who can protect your interests in the ever-changing landscape of divorce and tax law.

Alimony, or spousal support, is one common topic of discussion in high-asset divorces. In Georgia, alimony can be granted on a permanent or temporary basis, though it is not awarded in every case. In order to assess whether one person is entitled to alimony, Georgia family courts will consider a number of factors.

• Characteristics of the marriage: This includes the length of your marriage, the standard of living enjoyed during the union and contributions to the marriage made by each spouse, financial and otherwise.
• Characteristics of the spouses: Judges will look at your (and your spouse’s) age, emotional condition, physical well-being and professional background.
• Financial resources: Alimony is intended to support a financially disadvantaged spouse in the wake of a divorce. As such, the courts will assess each person’s earning capacity, the cost of career training or education for a person re-entering the workforce, the availability of external economic resources and the length of time alimony may be necessary.

It should be noted that spousal support is not ordered as a penalty to one spouse, nor is it reserved for only those who have significant assets. It is in place to address the needs of a disadvantaged spouse based on the ability of the financially-advantage spouse.

It is true that this financial discrepancy may be greater for affluent couples than it is for other couples. This could be because of one person’s existing wealth prior to a marriage or situations in which one spouse was able to stop working outside the home. In either case, a divorce could be financially devastating to the person without individual assets and income.

If you have questions about your eligibility to receive alimony or your potential obligation to pay alimony, it can be crucial that you discuss your options with your attorney.

Take alimony, for instance. It wouldn’t seem unreasonable to expect that legislation concerning spousal maintenance, and the public’s attitude toward it, would be more or less similar and aligned in states with adjoining borders.

That is flatly not the case with a comparison of the legal regimes in Georgia and Florida with respect to alimony, though. Although there are differences of opinion concerning it in Georgia, and occasional discussion of how an alimony outcome can differ appreciably based on the judge who exercises discretion over it, alimony in Florida is a highly controversial and oft-debated subject, by comparison.

In fact, there has been a strong grass-roots movement in that state for some time seeking to abolish permanent alimony, as well as to enable court divorce filings to be reopened and alimony awards tweaked retroactively. The Florida governor recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed for broad-sweeping changes to, essentially, rein alimony in on many accounts. Reformists have revamped their efforts, and a further push is forthcoming.

In Georgia, a comment frequently made concerning alimony is that its outcome can be unpredictable. Unlike the case with child support, where judges are tasked to follow a specific statutory formula, courts exercise wide latitude and discretion in alimony determinations. There is no prescribed formula that limits their decisions, and the factors that they consider are mere guidelines.

Notwithstanding that ambiguity (and perhaps because of it), one thing emerges as eminently clear in Georgia’s subjective alimony context: Having a proven divorce attorney with deep knowledge of the relevant factors and close familiarity with the courts and relevant processes can make a material difference in outcome in a given case.

Source: Sun Sentinel, “Alimony reform advocates retooling legislation,” Kathleen Haughney, Sept. 15, 2013

If the spousal support award is too high, it is also incredibly easy to fall behind in payments. In some cases, it may even be possible for a judge to jail someone who is behind on his or her alimony, which is what happened to one man who struggled to afford the nearly $100,000 he owed to his ex-wife in spousal support and child support each year.

The man apparently lost his job and has had a difficult time getting back to work. He once was a portfolio manager on a Wall Street firm, but he now works part-time as an entry-level stock agent. His wages are garnished to cover his alimony and his child support, but he has also fallen $233,000 behind in his payments, leading to a family court judge jailing him as part of a work-release program. While he is free to leave during the day for work, he must spend his nights and weekends in jail.

This story is from New Jersey, yet there have been similar stories of men and women jailed in Georgia for failing to make child support or spousal support payments. When court-ordered payments get out of control, it seems many counties are willing to severely punish hard-working adults trying to make ends meet.

Source: Bloomberg, “New Jersey Ex-Husband Fighting Alimony Denied Release,” Sophia Pearson, Sept. 9, 2013

Alimony (or spousal support) is certainly a judicial remedy in Georgia and awarded in some cases, but, generally, it is not perceived as being widely available. In fact, and unlike child support, for which firm state guidelines are in place, the factors that are judicially considered regarding alimony are many and highly subjective. Given that, securing representation from a family law attorney highly experienced in alimony matters can make a material difference in a spousal support outcome.

Alimony is in flux in a number of states across the country, with both advocates and critics voicing sharp and diverging opinions on the subject. Those in favor of maintaining strong and protective alimony laws often say that doing so is necessary to address the economic disparity that exists between couples in marriage. They often cite the example of a husband who worked outside the home and established a well-paying career, while the wife sacrificed the chance to do so in lieu of staying home with the kids and being a homemaker. Following divorce, alimony advocates say, the woman needs continuing assistance from her former spouse, sometimes permanently.

Critics say that such a viewpoint is generally anachronistic and more applicable to previous generations, given that millions of women now work outside the home and make as much or money as do their former spouses. In such as case, they argue, alimony is a punitive device.

There is a strong anti-alimony lobby in neighboring Florida, especially critics of permanent alimony. A bill that they favored, and which passed both legislative bodies, was vetoed just yesterday by that state’s governor.

“You haven’t heard the last of it,” says one close observer and commentator.

Passage of the bill would have made Florida the fifth state to abolish permanent alimony.

Source: Fox News, “Florida Gov. Scott vetoes bill that would end permanent alimony in state,” May 2, 2013

Alimony in Georgia is usually considered to be rehabilitative, meaning that its purpose is to help support someone while they work towards becoming self supporting. Therefore, the length of time alimony payments are to continue will vary depending on the circumstances of the parties.

The need for and the ability to pay alimony, will be determined by looking at the current incomes or income potential of the parties, their financial needs for food, housing and other basic expenses as well as any assets they will possess after the divorce. The money available to be paid in alimony (the ability to pay), is determined by looking at the amount of money the paying spouse would have available after his or her basic needs and obligations are met. Once this ability to pay is determined, the court will look for a need from the receiving spouse. If the receiving spouse has the ability to work and earn some income or if the receiving spouse has substantial separate assets or will be receiving substantial assets in the divorce then those resources may reduce that spouse’s need for alimony. Once all of these factors are considered the court will determine the amount of alimony that is appropriate.

Alimony is not a punishment or a penalty for the paying spouse and the purpose of alimony is not to even up the incomes of the parties. The fact that the paying spouse has committed some sort of bad conduct is not generally considered to have a direct affect on the amount or term of alimony payments. That being said, if the paying spouse’s bad conduct was the cause of the breakup of the marriage, this can certainly be considered by the court.

Georgia has some bars to alimony, the most common of which is adultery. Georgia law states that if a spouse commits adultery and the adultery is the cause of the breakup of the marriage, then that spouse is not entitled to receive alimony from the innocent spouse.

Alimony can be awarded on a temporary basis, meaning, while the divorce is underway. This temporary alimony can be awarded for the purpose of paying one spouse’s living expenses during the divorce and can also be ordered to cover the receiving spouse’s legal expenses.   

For more information on alimony, please click here.

The issues vary, of course, from couple to couple. Some separating couples may run into difficulty with selling a house or qualifying for a mortgage on another one. Others may be dealing with property division or alimony issues at a time when asset values have taken such substantial hits.

But the recession officially ended in 2009. After three years of painfully slow economic recovery, are there finally encouraging signs on the horizon?

A recent Census Bureau report contains grounds for a degree of optimism about the economy in Georgia. According to this report, median household income was up in Georgia last year. The increase was 4.2 percent from 2010 to 2011, up to $45,973.

That was the good news. The bad news is that median income – $45is still 7 percent below its peak in 2006. Where does median income stand in Georgia, after the increase last year?

The Census report did, however, contain one other encouraging item. The percentage of people in Georgia with health insurance coverage increased slightly.

For someone considering divorce, this is significant because health coverage for spouses and minor children is often an issue when couples split up. Indeed, Georgia has the seventh highest rate of people without insurance in the country.

Statewide, there were 1.86 Georgians without health insurance last year. To be sure, that’s still a lot, but it’s down from over 2 million in 2009.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s upheld the federal health insurance law in June. Georgia officials are still weighing the state’s options on how to respond to that ruling.

Source: “Georgians see hint of a rebound,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Craig Schneider and Misty Williams, 9-12-12

Our firm handles situations similar to those discussed in this post.

There seems little doubt that the Atlanta area has its share of men who share such beliefs and perceptions.

Overall, in terms of the law itself, it may seem like these men are over-reacting. Regarding the custody questions, the playing field is a lot more level than it used to be. “In this day and age, fathers have lots of rights,” Ken Altshuler, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, told the Wall Street Journal recently. “We have shared custody, and the law in most states is really gender neutral.”

But how does gender neutrality in theory translate into practice? Practice can be quite different from theory, especially when there has been so much change in gender roles in only one or two generations.

The question of alimony is a good example. If a marriage was a long-term marriage in which one party stayed home with the children for many years, a substantial spousal support award may well be in order. But if that party did little after the children left home to try to rebuild marketable skills, it becomes a tougher call.

In short, it is hard to make global statements about whether the divorce system favors women over men or men over women. This is because, even with lingering stereotypes, so many decisions come down to specific facts individual cases.

Source: “‘Divorce for Men’ Lawyers: Sports Mags, Paternity Test Info and More,” The Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Smith, 7-23-12