Georgia Family Legal Questions

Child support is always collectible.  Whereas with other issues, alimony being one of them, if you do not pursue your right to that award (a Court Ordered it, it is an "award"), then you may lose your right because you "sat on it too long."  Child support does not go away, however, and no matter how old the child is, if he was ordered to pay for a certain amount of time, he is now, technically, in "Contempt" of the Court Order -- in the Court where the Order was signed and filed.  It is something you can file for, or if you hire an Attorney to do so, they can ask for an award of Attorney fees and Court Costs -- if awarded, then you should receive your money back once he pays what he was ordered to pay for those fees.  Problem is, for some people, you have to pay for those things upfront to get things rolling -- usually.  There is no guarantee that a Judge will award Attorney fees, so most Attorneys will not go to Court with a promise to pay or a possibility that the Judge will award those fees. I hope this helps! Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes, Family Law Center, LLC www.hynesfamilylaw.com... Read More

Your action is to file a Petition for Legitimation and Custody/Visitation.  It must be filed where the child resides (in that County), and if she objects, and wants a DNA test, then the Court will require one before they grant your legitimation petition.  They will grant it in most instances -- a felon or someone on the sex offenders register might have an issue with being granted that, but mostly, it's granted otherwise.  They will, if granted, give you visitation rights and joint legal custody (Usually), which means you have a right to know what is going on in her life, where she goes to school, how she does in school, if she has medical issues, etc.  The mother of the child will be in the position to get child support from you, if you are capable of working but are not working, or if you are working.  There are formulae they use to figure it out, using minimum wage figures for both you and the mother if you or she are not working but are capable of doing so.  If you don't earn minimum wage but are capable of doing so, they will base it on min. wage, anyway. Hope this helps. Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes, Esq. Family Law Center, LLC www.hynesfamilylaw.com  ... Read More

Your remedy, if your ex is not following the Court's Order in any manner, is to file a Motion for Contempt.  It must be filed in the Court (County) where you were divorced, and you should attached a copy of the Decree that your ex is, allegedly, violating.  It needs to state that he/she was ordered to do a certain thing (or refrain from doing certain things), and that they are not abiding by the Order of the Court.    Hope this helps. DDH... Read More

Your Divorce Decree relative to the child support obligation should go further than simply saying "until the age of 20."  The normal decree states that child support continues until the subject child reaches the age of 18, graduates secondary school (which is "High School"), joins the military, marries, dies, etc.  I do not know the exact language of your particular decree, so it is hard to say what you can, legally, do at this point.  If it states what I have noted above, then your obligation ended when your child graduated high school.  Normally, the "20 years of age" language is put in a decree because not all children graduate at 18.  By the same token, some graduate at 17, but it depends on the language in your decree as to how the Court dictates (or you and the other parent agreed, if by Agreement) as to how and when support should be paid and for how long.  If, on the other hand, your decree states that it continues to the age of 20, and there is no other qualifying language, then it is the "custodial parent" you must pay, if that is what the decree tells you to do.  Side agreements between you and your ex, or between you and your child, will not hold up in Court, should your ex not like what you are doing with the support being sent directly to your child in college.  The Court Order is what you follow. I hope this helps. Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes, Esq. www.hynesfamilylaw.com  ... Read More

The only form of legal separation in Georgia is referred to as a Separate Maintenance action.  It is similar to divorce in that the parties are living separately, but all money and expenses continue to be taken care of as if the parties are still together.  If a Complaint for Separate Maintenance has not been filed in the Court, and then heard and an Order has been executed (signed) by a Judge, then there is no "legal Separation" as far as the Courts are concerned.  If the parties are living apart, or even still in the same home but not having marital relations, you are considered separated as far as what a party might note in their Complaint for Divorce as to the "date of separation."  Until a Court Order is in place on any of these issues, however, living apart does not sanction selling or getting rid of property (personal property or real estate), etc. That does not mean a couple cannot agree to dispose of things as they agree, but they cannot later complain if they don't like the outcome.  After a couple separates, without a Court Order in place that establishes who has what property and who pays what bills, who has the children (if there are any), who pays what support, etc., the property they might have, or the debt they might have, remains in place until a Court has been brought in to make a decision on who does what and who gets what.  The only thing a separation date, absent a Court Order, does for a couple is to establish that the marriage is "over" and therefore any behavior of either party after the separation date is not, normally, considered the reason for the marriage to have broken up, i.e., fault grounds for the divorce such as adultery, etc.  Fault grounds occur before the separation, not after.  Obviously, adultery committed after a separation and not before cannot be the reason the marriage broke up. I hope this helps. Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes, Family Law Center, LLC www.hynesfamilylaw.com    ... Read More

When you and the child's father married, that made him the legal father of the child -- is the child his, biological child?  Have you and he divorced yet?  Is there any Court Order presently in place concerning his rights to see or visit with his child?  All of these are pretty much relevant and important parts of this question, and an answer to your question must be taken with the understanding that these are some of the details about this situation that I do not know from my end. If there is no Court Order in place regarding his time with the child, you are under no legal obligation to allow visitation.  If you feel there is good reason not to allow the child time alone with his father, that is up to you.  By the same token, if the child's father takes the child for visitation somewhere, he has equal rights to the child and can keep him from you, as well, until there is a court hearing and an Order is issued that determines who has custody and who has visitation.  The Court will also set a child support amount that the non-custodial parent (NCP) is responsible for paying. If there is someone else in your life now who is interested in adopting your child, together with you, of course, there is a very good chance that an adoption would be allowed by the Court.  The child's father has, from what you write, abandoned a meaningful relationship with his child, and he has not supported the child for 12 months or longer.  These are both reasons for terminating a parent's right to their child.  If you are not yet divorced from this man, custody issues will be a part of your divorce.  As I said above, until a Court Order is in place on these issues, however, you each have equal rights to this child, under Georgia law, unless the child's father has been found guilty of a crime that requires him to stay away from children. I hope this helps. Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes, Family Law Center, LLC www.hynesfamilylaw.com  ... Read More

If you want to receive support from the father of the child, you will need to inform him.  If you want any support of any kind, he will need to be informed.  If he finds out you have a child, even after the fact, he can ask for a paternity test and ask to "legitimate" the child to be declared the child's legal father, then he can ask for visitation and/or custody rights.  You can then also ask for support for this child.  Unless the new baby, if you are pregnant, after all, is in harms way or somehow deprived, he will have to show that there is a reason to take the new child from you.  I don't know the reasons behind why he was able to take your two year old from you, nor how long ago you went through your divorce, so some of the advice you will receive here or from other attorneys, will be sketchy.  A lot of information is based on your past and your divorce, reasons for custody decisions, etc.  I hope this helps. Danielle D. D'Eor-Hynes,   Family Law Center, LLC 96-A Tommy Stalnaker Drive Warner Robins, Georgia 31088 478-971-1877 www.hynesfamilylaw.com    ... Read More

I assume you are in Georgia and he is in Minnesota. You are correct that Minnesota does not recognize same sex marriage or civil unions.  But, there was a case last year in which a California marriage was dissolved in Hennepin County Minnesota without requiring the two women to return to California where they had been married. The Court said it would be burdensome to ask the couple to remove to California to establish residence. The Court entered a Declaratory Judgment based on a Stipulation.  Does your ex-partner wants to proceed with the dissolution?  If so, there is a possibility of having it done in Minnesota.  You could consent to the jurisdiction of the Court. It would be worth the try. And no lawyer would deny that it would be professionally rewarding to be involved.   ... Read More