Atlanta Divorce Blog

Am I Entitled to a Portion of My Spouse’s Retirement Benefits After Divorce?

parhamlaw — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:55:32 +0000

Georgia is a fair and equitable state and not a 50/50 community property state like California.

What this mean is that you are not automatically entitled to 50% of community property accumulated during the marriage (i.e., your spouse’s retirement). Instead, the court looks at the totality of the circumstances, including:

how long you have been married,
whether you have any children together,
who paid the bills during the marriage,
your ability to earn income after the divorce, etc.

If you and your spouse agree to split up the retirement benefits or the court orders that the retirement benefits be split then a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) will need to be entered. Retirement plans are governed by federal laws and can only be divided amongst divorced spouses via a QDRO. A QDRO may be entered simultaneously with the divorce decree or after the divorce decree.

If you have any questions regarding your divorce and property settlement, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham, for your consultation at 678-439-1482.

If I am Sued for Divorce, Can I Counter-Sue and on What Grounds?

parhamlaw — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:53:41 +0000

Yes, you have the right to file a counter-claim if you are sued for divorce. You can sue on any of the thirteen grounds in Georgia that apply to your situation.

Enter marriage by persons within the prohibited degrees on consanguinity and affinity.
Mental incompetency at the time of the marriage.
Impotency at the time of the marriage.
Force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the marriage.
Pregnancy of the wife at the time of the marriage unknown by the husband.
Adultery of either of the parties after marriage.
Willful and continued desertion by either of the parties for the term of one year.
The conviction of either party for offense involving moral turpitude in under which he or she is in sentenced imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of two years or longer.
Habitual intoxication.
Cruel treatment, which shall consist of the willful infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the complaining party, such as reasonably justified apprehension of danger to life, limb, or health.
Incurable insanity.
Habitual drug addiction.
The marriage is irretrievably broken.

If you have any questions regarding your divorce, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham, for your consultation at 678-439-1482.

Can I Get Divorced If I Can’t Find My Spouse?

parhamlaw — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:52:34 +0000

Yes, you can obtain a Divorce By Publication.

To obtain a divorce by publication,

You must first satisfy the Judge that you have taken reasonable steps to locate your spouse.
If the Judge grants your request to divorce your spouse by publication then a notice of the divorce runs in the local paper for 4 weeks.
If your spouse does not respond to the ad by the deadline then you may ask the Judge to grant your divorce.

The judge will be able to grant the divorce and division of marital property (located within Georgia), but the Judge will not be able to order your spouse to pay child support or alimony.

If you have any questions regarding your divorce, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham, for your consultation at 678-439-1482.

Can We Use the Same Divorce Attorney?

parhamlaw — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:51:28 +0000

No.

Ethically, the divorce attorney can only represent you or your spouse. The attorney cannot adequately represent both of your best interests since you and your spouse’s interests are usually in direct conflict during a divorce.

Use due caution if you choose to represent yourself in a divorce. It is advisable that you consult with an attorney to review the Settlement Agreement. You may be waiving your rights or you may be subjecting yourself to negative and expensive consequences in the future by the way the Settlement Agreement is drafted.

If you have any questions regarding your divorce, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham, for your consultation at 678-439-1482.

Financial Planning and Divorce

parhamlaw — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:17:52 +0000

Divorce is often times a highly emotional event and parties tend to make decisions based on their emotions that just don’t make financial sense. When planning for a divorce or during the divorce process, educate yourself on your financial situation. Make a list of all of your marital assets and debts. Know what your legal rights are to property division, debt division, child support, and alimony. Also, it may be worth the investment to hire a financial planner to be part of your team in order to assess the value of your property and to advise you on any potential tax consequences of your decisions. Furthermore, your financial advisor will be able to help you create a new financial plan post-divorce. Remember, your attorney probably does not know or fully understand all of the tax consequences of your decisions and is not trained to help you create a financial plan. Divorce can be a costly process and the more you educate yourself, the better off you will be in the long run.

The above is for general information only and is not legal advice. Contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney Shalamar J. Parham at 678-439-1482 for legal advice related to your specific case.

Legitimation: I Signed the Birth Certificate, How Do I Get Custody or Visitation Rights?

parhamlaw — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:47:26 +0000

In the State of Georgia, a father has no legal rights related to their child unless the father is married to the mother of the child or legitimizes the child. Signing the birth certificate alone does NOT provide a father any legal rights related to their child. This means the child loses many rights to inherit from his father and vice versa. Further, the father does not have a legal right to visitation with the child and the father cannot petition the court for custody. In order to establish legal rights to the child, the father must marry the mother, complete an Acknowledgment of Legitimation form with the mother’s consent before the child’s first birthday, or petition the court to legitimate the child. Notwithstanding the above, a father of an illegitimate child may still be responsible to provide child support for the child’s benefit.

The above is for general information only and is not legal advice. Please contact a family law attorney for legal advice in your specific case.

Shalamar J. Parham, Atlanta Divorce Attorney

678-439-1482

Divorce Insurance to Temporary Marriages to Prenupts: Is Our Society Better or Worse With These Easy Outs?

parhamlaw — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:03:35 +0000

Last year an insurance company in North Carolina released “the world’s first divorce insurance product.” The company claims this product eliminates the risk of your future ex-spouse from raiding “raiding those investments [i.e., savings accounts] and taking it all. And then with all the money gone, you’re left with all the legal bills.”

Now, lawmakers in Mexico City are considering passing a law that would allow for temporary marriages. If the law is passed, newlyweds can contract to stay married for a minimum of two years before deciding whether to finalize the marriage or to break up.

And of course we all know from all of the celebrity breakups that couples can contract how to dissolve their marriage before ever getting married with a prenuptial agreement.

With all of these tools and conveniences for couples to split up after marriage, I wonder why couples get married in the first place. Traditionally, marriage has been either a sacred religious sacrament or a social and economic deal depending on the religion and culture. In any event, marriage was thought of something is not to be entered into lightly considering the intent is to remain married and procreate.

As time passes and the attitudes and opinions of society changes, I am noticing a growing trend of couples entering into marriage without much thought and are seeking a divorce after only six (6) months. And I am seeing this growing trends from couples that do not have divorce insurance or prenuptial agreements. Instead of companies and lawmakers trying to create innovative new products to produce income from the growing trend of couples getting married haphazardly, our society would only benefit if we go back to the traditional and start respecting marriage as an important decision. Even with divorce insurance, prenuptial agreements, and even temporary marriages, hearts are broken and children are hurt when marriages end.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Atlanta Divorce Attorney Shalamar J. Parham, 678-439-1482

I Owe $Thousands of Back Child Support Because I Lost My Job: What Can I Do?

parhamlaw — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:15:56 +0000

If you are court ordered to pay child support and you involuntarily lose your job or have an involuntary loss of income, do not sit around and do nothing for too long. Sitting on your rights can cost you THOUSANDS of dollars. Instead, file for a modification of your child support obligation as soon as possible. Child support arrearages will continue to accrue even if you have lost your job if you have not filed a modification case. Once arrearages have accrued, the likelihood to reduce the arrearages are not in your favor.

If you need more information regarding your child support modification, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham at 678-439-1482.

I Have to Move Out-of-State For My Job, Will I Lose Visitation Rights?

parhamlaw — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:48:40 +0000

During these harsh economic times, more parents find themselves in the position where they need to move out of state in order to keep their current positions or to find a job that will allow them to support themselves. This move is made more difficult when you have to leave your children.

Practically speaking, it will no longer be feasible to see your child(ren) every other weekend and during your usual mid-week visitation. This does not mean that you will lose all of your visitation rights. You may seek to modify your visitation schedule and request your child(ren) during more of their breaks from school, i.e. Fall Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Summer breaks. Also, you may find the investment in purchasing your child(ren) a computer, a webcam and internet service so that you and your child(ren) can skype each other well worth it because you will be able to “see” your children during the periods you are away from them.

If your circumstances have changed and you need your visitation rights revisited, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham at 678-439-1482.

How NOT to Behave During Your Divorce

parhamlaw — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:17:31 +0000

Divorce is hard. You do not have to make your divorce harder on yourself. There are some common missteps that you can avoid if you keep a clear head and do not let your emotions control your behavior. Below are some actions you should avoid:

1. Don’t flaunt your new lover around town and especially not your kids. Divorce is emotional. Flaunting your new lover around will infuriate your spouse. Why make your spouse more angry and less agreeable when negotiating the terms of your divorce? Unnecessary drama can be avoided by keeping your new lover away until after the divorce. (The issue that you should not have a new lover while still married is another topic).

2. Don’t post your dirt on FaceBook, MySpace or any public internet forum. Yes, your spouse will find the dirt that you posted for the world-wide web to see. Yes, your spouse will use your dirt against you in the divorce. This includes pictures of you and your new lover, you getting drunk with the kids in the house, your posts about doing drugs, the new car you just bought behind your spouse’s back, the lavish vacation you just took using marital funds, you slandering your spouse and so on…

3. Don’t Start Transferring Assets or Depleting Your Bank Accounts. Most divorcing parties do not want their soon-to-be ex to receive more than their “fair share” of the marital assets. One reaction to divorce is the urge to transfer assets to family members and hiding monies. This is not a wise move as it will cause you to lose assets in the end. The Courts will not look favorably to these shady transactions and will likely undo the transactions and award the assets to your spouse.

4. Don’t take your legal advice from family and friends. This can be very tempting. After all, you solicit advice for everything else from your family and friends before making decisions. Your family and friends mean well, but you have to understand that do not fully understand your legal circumstances. They may think your situation sounds a lot like theirs but without legal training, it is almost impossible to know what facts (sometimes small and minute) make a difference in the legal system and in your case.

These are just some of the ways that you can avoid making your divorce more difficult for yourself. If you are contemplating a divorce, contact Atlanta Divorce Attorney, Shalamar J. Parham at 678-439-1482.