Augusta Georgia Divorce | GA Child Custody Lawyer

Richmond County Georgia uncontested divorce lawyer

Richmond County custody lawyer

One spouse must have lived in Georgia for 6 months or Georgia should have been the last domicile of the marriage. Spouses must be considered separated in a legal sense prior to filing for a divorce. Parties can be considered separated even if they are living in the same house if they are not sharing the same room and/or not having a sexual relationship. If the spouses agree, the divorce is considered uncontested. An uncontested divorce can be granted 31 days after the Defendant has been served with the Complaint for Divorce. If there is disagreement as to any matter, the divorce will be obtained when the case reaches the courtroom, which may take many months.

Spouses may be able to reach an agreement resolving all issues arising from the marriage, such as finances, division of property, and child custody and visitation of children. The agreement is submitted to the Court as a Marital Settlement Agreement and, upon approval, made an order of the Court. The Courts order, called a Final Judgment and Decree, ends the lawsuit. Yet, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the issues will be resolved by the Judge or the jury. Whereas, a judge always determines matters of custody and visitation.

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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Augusta GA family law attorney – Child Support in Augusta Georgia

In Georgia both parents are required to support their children until a child attains the age of twenty, dies, graduates from high school, marries, is emancipated, or joins the military, whichever event occurs first. The non-custodial parent should 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, may also include such items as health insurance and payment of medical and dental expenses.

Since January 1, 2007, the rules for calculating child support based on a new income shares model that will take into account the income of both the custodial parent and the non-custodial parent became effective. The child support guidelines are a minimum basis for deciding 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 cannot direct parents to pay for college. Yet, parents can agree to pay child support beyond the age of 18 or to pay for college expenses.

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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Divorce and Property in Augusta GA

Columbia County GA uncontested divorce law firm

Richmond County divorce lawyer

One of the most difficult and complex areas of divorce is the distribution of marital property. Marital property is all property obtained during the marriage, except for that property 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 between 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.

In Augusta Georgia, you can ask that fault must be considered in deciding 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 more. If there is only a certain amount of support that your errant spouse can afford, the judge will not order an unrealistically high amount. Generally, the spouse who receives support has payments reduced because of fault.

In GA the support payments (if any) can definitely effect how the marital property division is awarded, which is why it can become a very important part of the final result of any divorce. Spousal support, also known as 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 a long time. There are two broad categories of spousal support: 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 grant 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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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Augusta GA uncontested divorce attorneys

Divorce grounds in Augusta 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 one married individual and another individual. Desertion is another fault ground for divorce in Georgia. A divorce can be granted on the grounds that a person has deserted his or her spouse willfully for at least one 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.

GA has the option of no-fault divorce. In a no-fault divorce, you do not have to prove that your spouse is responsible for your decision to seek divorce, you merely inform the judge that you and your spouse have irreconcilable differences” or have suffered an irremediable breakdown of your marriage.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

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Legal Custody & Physical custody in Georgia

Legal custody refers to the legal authority to take major decisions on behalf of the child. 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 who has sole legal custody is the only person who has the legal authority to take major decisions on the child’s behalf. 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 take major decisions for the child. Keep in mind that parents might have “joint legal custody” without having “joint physical custody.” Physical custody refers where the children live the majority of the time.

Sole Physical Custody

With sole physical custody, the child physically resides at one location. In many cases, the non-custodial parent is awarded generous visitation rights, and even sleepovers.

Joint Physical Custody

Joint physical custody is also known as “Shared Custody,” “Shared Parenting,” or “Dual Residence.” In type of custody, the children reside with one parent for part of the week or part of the year, and with the other parent for the remaining time. The time spent at each location is approximately the same.

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.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Columbia County GA uncontested divorce lawyers

How To show Adultery – Richmond County divorce lawyers

There probably is no such thing as a pleasant adultery case; since names, dates, places, paramours, and the like have to be disclosed in in the courtroom.
There is a need for a corroborative witness, such as a mutual pal or neighbor, who has nothing to do with the case except disclosing to the court what he/she saw.
Most adultery cases are demonstrated by circumstantial facts, which means that you have to prove that your spouse had the disposition and opportunity to cheat on you.
The law does not treat adulterers equally. Under Georgia law, adultery may impact custody if the adultery is shown to have harmed or impaired the children. Adultery will not necessarily affect alimony awards in Georgia. It can, meanwhile, be a factor for consideration in awarding alimony.———————————
Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Augusta Georgia spousal support attorneys

Columbia County family lawyers

An important issue that can affect an award of maintenance is the property to be maintained or divided between the parties. If the party requesting maintenance has been a stay at house parent, but desires have significant assets after divorce or has individual assets, like a trust fund, the judges outlook towards the award of maintenance request be affected. The judge will definitely consider a request for maintenance under such circumstances more adversely than a request made by a spouse who is receiving no assets in the divorce or who does not have any separate property.

The health of the party seeking maintenance is an important factor that may influence a courts decision in deciding alimony. If the party seeking maintenance has a enervating physical condition that affects whether or how much they can work, the court will not want to impoverish that party after divorce and the court will be more likely to use maintenance to address at least basic living needs.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Divorce in Columbia County Georgia Pre-filing Steps

Either party may get a no fault divorce simply by stating in divorce petition that the marriage has “irretrievably broken,” without any need for showing any fault.

Both spouses need not be living separately at the time of filing the petition. Parties will be considered separated even if they are living in the same residence if they are not sharing the same room and/or not having a sexual relationship.

A Marital Settlement Agreement is an important aspect of divorce. A marital settlement agreement is the agreement that lays down everything the parties agree to regarding assets, custody, and support. It describes:
-how they intend to divide property and debts
-agreements about child and spousal support
-how they will share parenting responsibilities, and how they will deal with any issues that come up relating to raising their children, and
-how they will deal with any future conflicts.

Cruel treatment is one of the reasons for divorce in Georgia. If a spouse is in physical danger from the other spouse, the formermust do either or both of the following:
-Get out of the house immediately, taking the children along. See a lawyer and file for custody right away, to ensure he or she not accused of kidnapping.
-Move court and obtain a restraining order, ordering the other spouse to move out and stay away from the house.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Divorce decrees in Georgia

Augusta GA Divorce Lawyer

Marriage is a form of civil contract that the state has an interest in protecting. So, the marriage relationship can be dissolved only according to the law through (1) a divorce or (2) an annulment; or altered by (3) a decree of separate maintenance awarded by the courts. In any case, there must be a proceeding in the superior court of the county in which the defendant stays (or the county where the parties lived during the marriage if the defendant left the US within six months before filing) and the party seeking the divorce should show grounds for divorce (valid reasons provided by law). Divorce is different from annulment of marriage. Divorce refers to the dissolution of a marriage contracted between a man and a woman, by the decree of a court of proper jurisdiction. Until an order of divorce be actually made, neither spouse is permitted to treat the other as sole, even in cases where the marriage is absolutely null and void for some preexisting cause. A decree of divorce should also be made during the lifetime of both the spouses. After the death of either party the marriage will be deemed as legal in all respects. A divorce formally terminates a legal marriage.———————————
Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.

Types of Alimony in GA – All you wanted to know

Augusta Divorce Lawyer

Rehabilitative alimony is intended to be a short-term arrangement that assists a spouse to get back on his or her feet. Alimony is meant to help the other spouse to go back to school or to obtain needed skills that enable the spouse to be competitive in the employment market. Generally a spouse who has chosen the role of becoming a homemaker and raising children has not been able to develop the skills required for useful and gainful employment. Permanent alimony continues for a long period of time, generally until the death of the party granted the alimony and is generally granted when one of the parties cannot work due to age physical or mental illness.

A party who might otherwise be entitled to alimony may forfeit that right if the facts prove that the adultery or desertion of that spouse was the cause of the separation of the spouses. But, alimony can be granted at a temporary hearing without considering these issues. A temporary hearing is intended to maintain the status quo between the parties, to the extent possible. Since fault issues are only determined at a final trial, they would not be relevant at the temporary hearing.
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Shawn Gunder is an Augusta GA divorce lawyer & Georgia Military Divorce Lawyer He is an Augusta military divorce lawyer, GA child custody attorney and Augusta Georgia child support attorney.