Posts by Scott Shaw
Will My Husband Have to Pay Me Alimony After Our Divorce?
Alimony or spousal support is not as common under Georgia law as it was in the past. However, spousal support can be an issue in a Georgia divorce when one spouse earns much more than the other, or when one spouse has limited earning capacity based on his or her circumstances. The court has a…
Read MoreWhose Responsibility is it to Take My Child to Sporting Events and Other Activities?
While the responsibility of parents to take their kids to sporting events and other extracurricular activities seems like a minor issue, it can become a real point of contention in high-conflict child custody cases. All too often, parents allow their personal disputes to negatively affect their children. For instance, the non-custodial parent may refuse to…
Read MoreWhat Rights Do I Have if I’m Not Married to My Child’s Mother?
If the parents of a child are married at the time of the child’s birth, they are the child’s legal mother and father. Therefore, they have equal rights to custody and visitation with the child. If a child is born out of wedlock, however, only the child’s mother has any custody rights to the child.…
Read MoreHow Do I Establish Paternity for My Child?
Georgia law provides for a number of different ways in which a parent can establish paternity. Paternity establishes a legal father for a child. If parties are legally married at the time of a child’s birth, paternity is automatically established. If parents are not married at the time of the parties’ marriage, however, one or…
Read MoreMy Wife Cheated on Me. Does This Fact Affect Property Division in Our Divorce?
Under Georgia law, there are 13 different grounds for divorce. There is one no-fault ground for divorce, which is that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” In order to qualify for the no-fault ground, neither party is required to prove any reason for the divorce, nor that one of the spouses committed some sort of wrongdoing.…
Read MoreWhat Will Happen to Our Rental Properties if We Divorce?
In a Georgia divorce, property division can be fairly simple, such as splitting furniture and other personal belongings. When real estate is involved, however, things can quickly become more complex. The situation may be even more complicated if the parties own rental properties that they acquired during their marriage. Some properties may contain equity, which…
Read MoreHow Do Debts Get Divided in a Georgia Divorce?
In a Georgia divorce, the parties must divide their marital property and debts equitably. As a result, the court always may assign more than half of the marital debt to one party or the other during a divorce, depending on the circumstances. There is no requirement under Georgia law that marital debt be divided equally…
Read MoreInternational Premarital Agreements
While premarital or prenuptial agreements have become far more commonplace in recent years in the United States, other countries treat these documents quite differently. Some countries do have provisions by which parties can enter into premarital-type agreements that are designed to safeguard and keep separate an individual’s property in the event that the couple divorces.…
Read MoreThe Benefits of Joint Custody for Your Child
When parents are divorced, separated, or never were married, they often look to the Georgia court system to establish orders for their child, including custody, visitation, and child support. When parties cannot agree on a custody arrangement, the court will determine the appropriate custody order on its own, based on the evidence presented by the…
Read MoreWhat is Parental Alienation?
Parental alienation is a phenomenon that usually occurs in the context of a divorce or separation of parents who share children. While most children desire a relationship with both of their parents, and research shows that a parenting schedule that allows children to spend approximately even amounts of time with each parent is most beneficial…
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