Sunday, May 1, 2011

"You must be a father's rights attorney?"


“You must be a Father’s Rights Attorney,” a particularly nasty attorney said to me in mediation a couple of weeks ago.  She said it within the context of her belief that I was being unreasonable in a negotiation.  Now, I’ve never been accused of that before.  I’m not actually sure what that is.  I hear attorneys advertising on the radio that they represent fathers and their interest but I know for a fact, having litigated against some of these firms, that they have represented mothers as well.  Though I’m not sure what a father’s rights attorney is, I do understand what a client’s rights attorney is.  I represent my clients, regardless of their sex, to the fullest extent of my advocacy and the law. 
Now I’m not an idiot, I understand the marketing behind father’s rights counsel.  Generally speaking, even in this supposedly egalitarian society, men make more money.  Thus, men have more access to ready cash and on average, men can pay the retainer fees easier than women. That is not to say that all women are running around destitute, unable to retain counsel.  But the reality is that men feel more threatened by the divorce process.  They see the court system as lined up against them, a view that is not all together unwarranted.
For every client and for every case that I handle in my Atlanta Family Law practice, a specific evaluation is conducted to measure the client’s desires and acceptable outcomes.  At the Shapiro Law Group we strive to provide honest and fair representation for each case, regardless of sex or other issues.  Bottom line, no attorney should be a “Father’s Right’s Attorney”  Your client’s rights are should be your concern, end of story.  

If you want to talk about your rights, call or e-mail me.  i don't care if you are a man or woman.  I just want to help

Monday, April 4, 2011

New Website Launch for Shapiro Law Group

We have launched a completely new website this week.  Our new site is a content rich destination for anyone interested in Family Law or Divorce Law in Georgia.  See our new website at http://www.elslawyer.com/

Sunday, March 27, 2011

"We stayed together for the children"

It may seem like one of the most cliched reasons for two people, who honestly cannot stand each other, to have stayed together in married misery.  However, in the many years of my Georgia Divorce practice, I have run into this unhealthy mindset more times than I care to think about.  I say "unhealthy" because as an attorney and parent I have seen nothing but harm coming from such decisions.  If parents think that just having the fabled two parent home under which their children can spend their days is, in and of itself, a positive aspect, they are simply deluding themselves.  One thing I  have learned, both in my practice and in my home, is that kids, even really young kids, absorb and understand so much more of their surroundings than which we ever give them credit.  This includes that fact that Mom and Dad are not happy together.

We all want the best for our kids.  Unfortunately, we cannot tell our kids how to behave and then do something else.  If you want to show them how a loving and committed relationship should look, you need to show them.  Period, end of story.  If you stay together merely because you think it is the right thing to do, or that your religious beliefs demand it, or simply because it is easier to stay together, than not, you are doing your best for your children, or yourself.

Does that mean a Georgia Divorce is the answer?  Not necessarily.  Working on your relationship might help.  Trying to figure out what brought you together in the first place is a good place to start.

Strange advice from a Divorce Attonrney?  Maybe, but your relationship can be affecting more people than you and your spouse.  Keep that in mind if you are in a loveless marriage.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Property Division in Georgia

"Georgia is an 'equitable distribution' state for purposes of splitting up marital assets." These words flow out of my mouth several times a week when speaking with new divorce clients. Invariably I get a somewhat quizzical look from the person sitting on the other side of my desk. Basically, I go on to explain, a judge or jury is empowered to divide your assets and debts in a manner that seems fair and reasonable, under the circumstances. Of course, this is not an exact science and a tremendous number of factors can be, and often are, drawn into a final determination. Frankly, to call this issue “gray” is a gross understatement. However, it is often in this “gray” area that attorneys earn their fees.

The first step in establishing an “equitable distribution” of the marital assets is to determine what are martial assets. I often have clients admit, rather sheepishly, that, for one reason or another, their house, car, etc. is titled in the other spouse’s name. They often assume that this takes the asset in question out of the marital asset equation. Now, do not get me stated on what assuming means. This is a family blog after all. (pun very much intended). Generally speaking, any asset that was taken ownership of during the marriage, and was not a specific gift or inheritance of one party, will be considered a joint marital asset. Similarly, if one of the parties had an asset prior to the marriage, it is his/hers, unless the asset grew in value during the marriage, at least in part, due to the efforts of the other spouse.

The bottom line is that establishing what asset is marital is a crucial step in the divorce process. To assist lawyers and their clients in making this determination, the State of Georgia requires that both parties fill out a Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit. This affidavit will be a fairly concise listing of all of the parties’ assets, liabilities, and monthly expenses. Honestly, I have recommended filling out such an affidavit to friends and clients who were not going through a divorce, just so they could get a better handle on their financial status. The portion on monthly expenses is often the most eye opening.

This early analysis of the financial condition of the marriage can often be a good first step toward finding certain common ground for the parties to move their divorce forward, or it can be the opening salvo in a bitter dispute that involves what would otherwise be deemed fairly unimportant assets.

The purpose of the Financial Affidavit is to achieve as close to full financial disclosure as possible in order to move the parties toward a settlement. (Good faith mistakes are made and assets are sometimes forgotten) In part, a lawyer’s responsibility to his client is to filter the facts and circumstances of the particular case and to advise the client as to what he/she feels a judge or jury might decide is “equitable”. ) As many people are aware, the vast majority of cases settle prior to trial. If the parties can compromise on the nature of the martial assets then that is normally the “fairest” agreement they are likely to come by.

Needless to say (but I will anyway), every matter is different and needs to be evaluated on its' own merits. A host of other factors can be incorporated in an evaluation of your particular divorce situation. Give my office a call and we will be happy to sit down with you for a more formal analysis of your situation.

Divorce- Choosing My Clients

Hello. It has been a while since I had some time to contribute to my blog. Business has been extremely strong and it has become increasingly difficult to devote the necessary time to sharing my thoughts and experiences with you. However, I had an interesting conversation with a friend over the weekend. He is divorced (several years in the past, and no, I did not represent him) and was asking me how often I get to represent someone about whose case I feel strongly or passionately about. I chuckled, and told him his question seems to presuppose that I am either ambivalent or hostile to my clients. I started to give some thought to how and why I choose to represent certain divorce and custody clients, and not others.

In reality, while I do not always agree with the course of action taken by my client, generally speaking, once I decide to accept an individual as a client of my firm, I invest a great deal of intellectual and emotional capital on the client. If I do not “believe” in their point of view, my advocacy suffers.

While I am seasoned enough to know that getting overly attached to a client’s cause can cloud perception and make appropriate counsel difficult, I do not adhere to the school of thought that requires that I remain emotionally distant from my clients. I will continue to pick my client’s carefully and to try to truly understand their needs and motivations. I believe this makes me a better lawyer; one worth hiring.

Divorce - Winning and Losing

As an Atlanta based Divorce Attorney at least once a week I am asked by a perspective client … “What is your record? How often do you win cases like mine?” Although I have been asked this question hundreds of times over the years, I still cannot help but wonder what they expect me to say. Invariably, I will advise the client that winning and losing is normally never as clear cut as they would think and that every case is different from the one that went before it and the ones that will follow. Real life Court battles are never as portrayed on TV, a zero-sum game with one party clearly coming out on top. Often you find your victories where you can or work feverishly to minimize the losses. Divorce lawyers often work in a world of gray. Then, a case comes along that forces you to reassess your perspective and re-define “wining” and “losing”.

I handled just such a case this week. It was a divorce matter. One minor child, 5 years old. Family home with a small amount of equity, no real joint debt and both parties are employed. I was hired by the mother, the father is representing himself. A pro se litigant is often a recipe for disaster, but I had high hopes. In a contested divorce matter the parties generally fight about only three things.
1-Custody and Visitation
2-Child Support
3-Division of Assets and Debts. Three was never a problem here and I never got the sense that 2 would be a sticking point. What was the problem. Both parties wanted primary physical custody and the parties, who had been separated for about four years, had been sharing custody 50/50 for almost the entire time. Even more frustrating (from an advocates point of view) was that both parties were good, attentive and loving parents. They both worked full time, but had enough flexibility in their schedules that they actually helped each other out for drop-offs and pick-ups. As their daughter is to enter kindergarten in the fall, each party was seeking to enroll her in an elementary school near where they live, on opposite sides of DeKalb County in metropolitan Atlanta. Both schools were good and had won many state awards.

I asked the Court for a Temporary Hearing so that we could ask the Judge to decide custody, while we worked the matter out. As I prepared for the hearing, the only facts that argued in my client’s favor was that the school near her home was arguably superior to the one closer to her husband, and because of where the schools and their work sites were located, the logistics of getting their daughter from one home to the other would be slightly easier if my client’s home was the primary residence. That was it. That was all I had. No drug use, no drinking, no violence in the home. No father that traveled for business, spent too much time at work or was otherwise disengaged. No, what we had was an almost dead heat. Evenly matched parents who both truly wanted what was best for their daughter.

I met with my client the day before the hearing. She reiterated her belief that, while her husband was an terrific father, with her daughter entering formal schooling, a more solid home foundation would be a better situation.

Upon my arrival at the hearing, the Judge asked us if we would be willing to sit down with a mediator before proceeding. I agreed, as I have found mediation to be a successful tool and did not relish moving forward with the arguments I had prepared for the hearing.

We sat down with the mediator and I took about five minutes to outline my client’s position. After I finished, the husband looked across the table at me and told us that he had done the research and he agreed that the school near my client would be the best choice for their daughter, he just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible and, if we agreed to shared custody, would be willing to do all the extra driving between his office, his home and school. My client looked at me and said “That would be great.”

That was it, case over. Well, we still had to arrive at a child support figure. That took about ten minutes. And we have tabled discussion of the equity in the home until after their daughter has started school.
The three of us left the Courthouse together and my client and her soon-to-be Ex-husband walked away together. When I said my goodbyes, they were still walking away, talking happily about their daughter’s impending start of kindergarten.

Now, I think again about the question at the beginning of this piece. I did not “win” this one for my client. We did not get the primary physical custody that she steadfastly maintained she wanted, up until the day of the hearing. That being said, as I remember them walking together, seeing them put their child first and realizing that although their marriage may have failed, they will be in each other’s lives for many years to come and that they are committed to working as partners for the betterment of their daughter; I cannot help but think I will put this one in the “win” column.

Why We Get Divorced

I spend an awful lot of time contemplating divorce From a business prospective and from a sociological view, divorce occupies a great deal of my waking time. How we get together, why we split apart, it alternately fascinates and horrifies me. I guess it is hazard of my chosen profession, but, as an Atlanta Divorce Attorney, their are very real implications that need to be explored. In surfing the net recently, I stumbled across a posting on another website that contained an article citing a study from the Center for Disease Control that indicates that Forty-Three Percent Of First Marriages Break-Up Within 15 Years. It also indicated that that one in three first marriages end within ten years and one in five end within five years. While the findings are based on data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, a study of 10,847 women 15-44 years of age and are of questionable timeliness, it did get me thinking about how our society views marriage, and subsequently divorce. (To read the entire article click here )

After practicing for nearly fifteen years and having gone through my own divorce ten years ago, my observational opinion is that two specific factors have led to the increase in the divorce rate is the rise of the two income homes and the increase in our life expectancy.

The first cause, the increase in two income homes, is really just another way of saying that our lives have grown increasingly complicated and hectic and failures to communicate (even if it is just that you do not have the time to communicate) are a sure fire way to end up in front of me, or one of my brethren of the bar. With both parents working, time to talk and parent comes at a premium and often take a back seat to the pressures of modern life.

Secondly, I think our concept of "until death do we part" was coined and incorporated into our national psyche generations ago, when the average person did not expect to easily live to over 77 years of age.

Today, I often get clients in my law office that are 50+ years old, have been married for in excess of 25 years and feel that they have 25-30 "good" years left and they want to find some new happiness. I truly believe that this is one of the root causes of what appears to be disposable marriages.

Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong ;-)

Uncontested Divorce? Really?

"My Divorce will be very simple, we are not fighting about anything." This is the beginning of the vast majority of the inquiries an uncontested divorce. Unfortunately, after asking a few questions of the prospective client, I usually tell them, "My friend, you have just not found out what you are fighting about yet." The reality is, no one wants to pay a lawyer by the hour to handle their divorce. Needless to say, I have yet to understand why people have a reluctance to pay me and my fellow members of the bar. ;-) Seriously though, when I begin questioning them with specificity on issues of child support, custody, division of assets and liabilities, it often dawns on them that what appeared as an open and shut matter, is now more complicated. Unfortunately, a professional hazard of a Divorce Attorney in Atlanta, or any other jurisdiction, is that we get to focus on the worst case scenarios. What can go wrong, often does, and proper planning and, yes, the spending of precious financial resources is usually necessary to avoid major problems going forward.

Bottom line, when an uncontested divorce is possible, we try to achieve it. However, when the facts presented do not lend themselves to a quick and relatively painless process, we prepare the client for the eventualities of the Divorce process; while keeping our eye on the bottom line financial reality of the individual client.

Remember, we offer free consultations on the phone and can usually get an idea of potentially how complicated your family law matter will be in a fairly short time. Give SHAPIRO LAW GROUP a call at 770-604-9292.

Child Support Modifications On The Rise

As a Divorce Lawyer in Metropolitan Atlanta, what once appeared as an unusual event, people forgoing divorce due to economic conditions, is now becoming more common. Certainly, couples willingness to spend funds on protracted litigation is becoming more the rule than ever in the past. That being said, I have seen a tremendous upsurge in parties seeking to modify their existing child support obligations. Georgia’s Child Support Guidelines recently joined the rest of the United States in apportioning support based, in part, on the income of both parents. This, along with a number of other financial factors, has created a more complex, but arguably more reasonable system for assessing support.

In Georgia, to modify child support you must make a showing of a substantial change in either parent’s income or financial status, or a change in the needs of the children. O.C.G.A. §19-6-15(k)(1). These days, the most common substantial change is the loss of a job,. However, it could also include significant reductions in pay, having to move a substantial distance from the minor children for work, or any number of other financial calamities that are befalling families in our current economic situation. It should also be noted that the substantial change must occur after the date of the original divorce decree or order establishing child support
It should be noted that you can only bring a modification action every two years after the date of the last modification. The exceptions to this are that you can bring a modification action :

(1) If the non-custodial parent has failed to exercise court ordered visitation;
(2) if the non-custodial parent has exercised more visitation than provided in the court order; or
(3) the modification action is based upon an involuntary loss of income. O.C.G.A. §19-6-15(k)(2)(A) – (C).

Also, always remember that verbal modifications between the parties have no force and effect (except in very limited circumstances) and if you want to properly effect a modification, the Court can only begin the process from the date you file an action and not from the date you lose your job, or suffer some other financial setback.

Give SHAPIRO LAW GROUP a call at 770-604-9292 to discuss the specifics of your matter

Atlanta Divorce Rate and the Economy

More and more we are hearing about how the crumbling economy is effecting people's choice, or even ability, to proceed with divorce. A recent example in the local Atlanta media follows:
Economic downturn affects marriage, families
By Brenda Pedraza-Vidamour
The Times-Herald

The impact of the worsening economy doesn't end with housing, banking or the stock market -- some marriages are also suffering.

Fights over money, sex and children are what typically tear most couples apart, according to experts. But it's still too early to tell whether today's economic times are also driving couples to divorce.
While foreclosures in Coweta County increased 44 percent and bankruptcies climbed 38 percent over the last year, divorces rose 9 percent for the same period.

What is clear is that today's tough times are affecting how divorces are being handled.

"No one wants the house now," said Diane Sternlieb, a Carrollton divorce attorney who also practices in Coweta. "Before we were fighting to keep the house. Now we're fighting where no one wants the house. It's like the forbidden asset."

Sternlieb said couples considering divorce are trying different strategies to avoid being saddled with debt, whether it's the mortgage or child support.

"I have more really, really awful custody battles," she said. "I think it's the stress hitting everyone. More people are laid off [from their jobs]. They're not able to pay child support."
Clients refuse to take the house or resign themselves to a short sale, in which the house is sold for less than what's owed on it.

"If one person is more apt to be able to refinance the house, then that person will take it and the other will forego any [gain] and walk away. Or sometimes they both walk away and malign their credit."
While Sternlieb's office has been "slammed busy" with more divorce cases, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reported to USA Today last month that it's seeing divorce rates fall. Overall, 37 percent of its members said they saw a decrease in divorce cases and 19 percent cited an increase, according to the organization's November report.

Reports across the country are noting people are either postponing divorce because they can't afford it; divorcing anyway, but not taking the house; divorcing anyway, but continuing to live together; or are trying to divorce, but find that a delayed house sale or other recession-related cause has protracted the process. Courts have also seen an increase in the number of "pro se plaintiffs."

"Clients aren't hiring anybody. They're doing it themselves," Sternlieb says, which has also postponed some divorces because the couples run into difficulties processing court-required information.
In a recent report, ABC News' "Good Morning, America" talked about how the economy is now forcing divorced couples to live together, citing Florida divorce attorney Carin Constantine, who recalled a case in which "the judge put an order in stating what days they were allowed to use the kitchen, and who got to use the living room, who got to use the television."

Sternlieb said her own daughter, against her advice, is considering a divorced-but-living-together arrangement with her estranged husband in Texas.

"They can't afford to live separately. They can't afford separate residences. More and more people, this is what they're doing, and this is awful because they're roommates now with their ex-spouse," she said.
Sternlieb says the arrangement creates joint physical custody issues and makes it harder for the children.
"It's confusing for the children and when one of them moves out, it's a real hard thing to go to a judge and say I want to be the primary custodian," she said.

"The economic crisis is almost creating a split in physical custody," she added. "People aren't able to afford daycare so that's where a lot of the joint physical custody is coming in. A lot of dads are out of work so it's 'I'll watch the baby during the day... Well, if he watches the baby, he must be able to handle physical custody."

Even when couples are successful in finalizing their divorce, resolving the custody issues and able to move into separate households and manage it all amicably, the recession has made it so much more difficult for them to move on.

Georgia State University sociologist Elisabeth Sheff and her ex shared those experiences with Dana Goldman on a recent 90.1-FM WABE news segment. The couple watched as their savings depleted as her ex, a former sociologist and stay-at-home father, continues to struggle to reenter a workforce that's suffering from a high unemployment rate. Sheff, who sees one-third of her take-home pay go toward child support, didn't imagine that their friendly divorce would still leave them exposed to the same dire consequences as other divorcing couples, because of the recession.

"I didn't anticipate over a year later being in this one-bedroom apartment," she said. "I'm not making it. To tell you the truth, I just don't know what to do."
---
Recession's impact on marriage
Month ('07) Divorces•Bankruptcies•Foreclosures
Jan - 46 • 35 • 94
Feb - 48 • 47 • 94
March - 57 • 73 • 87
April - 46 • 48 • 91
May - 47 • 39 • 71
June - 55 • 51 • 79
July - 55 • 45 • 70
Aug - 62 • 59 • 112
Sept - 33 • 52 • 109
Oct - 65 • 58 • 130
Nov - 53 • 52 • 116
Dec - 30 • 53 • 118
Total - 597 • 612 • 1,171
-
Month ('08) Divorces•Bankruptcies•Foreclosures
Jan - 44 • 56 • 156
Feb - 55 • 61 • 123
March - 52 • 61 • 128
April - 53 • 68 • 145
May - 55 • 56 • 128
June - 65 • 65 • 125
July - 45 • 63 • 136
Aug - 62 • 80 • 137
Sept - 57 • 82 • 177
Oct - 64 • 93 • 142
Nov - 45 • 67 • 166
Dec - 51 • 92 • 126
Total - 648•844•1,689
-
The statistics listed include court filings from Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2008.
The divorce filings include annulments and open and closed cases. Source: Coweta County Superior Court.
The bankruptcy filings include open and closed cases and business and nonbusiness filings. Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia.

The foreclosure filings include commercial and residential real estate. Source: Legal advertising statistics from The Times-Herald, the official legal publication for Coweta County.

File this under: "You've got to be kidding?"

Alimony--Using Craigslist to get out of paying?
Man offers to pay for someone to marry ex-wife
Imagine sitting at your computer and you are browsing the classified ads on Craiglist and suddenly you come across the following ad:

Nice well taken care of ex-wife. Mid 40's. Pretty and loyal. Never smoked and very little drinking. Will make someone a good companion (I know).... Will pay 10K to the man or woman who marries her in a way that stops me from having to pay her alimony.

There's the hitch. The man, trying to end his alimony payments to his ex-wife, is offering to pay a potential suitor to marry his ex-wife. Not being totally callous, the guy actually had some "terms and conditions" for this transaction.

* 1. This transaction offer only valid if she is not aware of it.
* 2. Must treat her good, no abuse tolerated by me.
* 3. This offer is null and void if it is determined to be illegal in any way -- I am not a lawyer.
* 4. The end result must be that I am no longer liable to her for alimony and you make best effort to be good to her.
* 5. This ad is not in any way intended to demean my ex-wife. She is a nice person and is a fine catch for anyone.

OOPS. I think the cat's out of the bag on condition #1. With news of the post hitting newspapers, she or some friends might find out. He might also have a problem with condition #3. At least he did not want to "demean" his ex-wife in any way--what a guy.

In Mississippi, if you are paying alimony to your ex, don't use this tactic to end the alimony. Not only will it fall flat in front of the judge, but you can be assured your ex will not find the humor in being marketed on Craigslist.

Divorce - Atlanta Style

Prior to moving to Atlanta, a little over 10 years ago, I practiced law in New York City. I was an associate at a boutique litigation firm on Madison Avenue, and had my wife not gotten a wonderful job offer here in the South, I would likely still be spending much of my time on the subways and commuting by train. I am absolutely thrilled that we settled in Atlanta, and have continually tried to get friends and family to add our Southern hospitality to their lives. My office is less than two miles from my home and the lifestyle that Atlanta affords my family continues to amaze me.

That being said, after settling a Divorce case today, I was reminded about the most common question I get from former colleagues up north. "Is practicing law, Divorce or otherwise, different in the South?" Now, obviously, their are procedural differences that impact the practice of law. However, what I see as the biggest, and often most frustrating difference, is the slower pace by which matters progress. This might seem strange, in light of the fact that I believe the average case in New York takes much longer to wend its way through the system. No....what I am getting at is the speed with which you actually find out what the other side is looking for and and figuring out if you had any room to discuss settlement, or were issues to be submitted to the Court for a ruling. The case I settled today is a great example. Three days ago I received an counteroffer from the attorney on the other side. We had presented our initial settlement proposal nearly six months ago. The original counter-proposal I received from opposing counsel would have put both clients in a potential financial disaster. We completed financial discovery nearly 4 months ago, and despite numerous discussions and requests for comment on our last offer made in late December, 2008, opposing counsel refused to let us know what his client agreed with and what were points of contention. Finally, I asked the Court to place us on a trial calendar. My client was frustrated, but understood that this was the only way to move the matter along.

Two days after I contacted the Court, and three months after we sent out last offer, opposing counsel provided us with a counteroffer, one whose terms almost exactly mirrored the terms of the original settlement agreement that we submitted nearly nine months ago. They agreed with our terms on alimony, child support, visitation. My client will pick up an extra credit card and will be responsible for any shortfall in the value of the home, if ti sells for less than it is worth. Unfortunately, the house has lost value since the time of the original settlement proposal. Had they agreed at the onset, it probably would have let the parties cash out of their home with some equity and not cost them over $20,000 in legal fees.
I have seen this progression all to often, since moving to Atlanta. The attorney on the other side was a good lawyer, effectively argued his client's position and was a pleasure to deal with. He just let us move the case along at a snail's pace. This is in no one's interest.

Georgia Divorce Law Basics (part 1)

As an Atlanta Divorce Lawyer, one of the most frequent areas of confusion that I have to clear up in consultations with new clients is the difference between an Uncontested Divorce and a No-Fault Divorce.   As I have previously written about, many people think they want an Uncontested Divorce, but they just have not found out what they are fighting about.  The following explains the difference between the two closely linked ideas.

Under most circumstances, the Divorce Complaint is the initial document or pleading filed with the Superior Court in the County in which the defendant resides. This document must spell out the specific grounds under which the petitioner is seeking to end the marriage.

A final decree of divorce shall be granted under the following grounds:

(1) The marriage is irretrievably broken with no hope of reconciliation. This is the ground for divorce that many people think of as Irreconcilable Differences. If the parties agree, in writing, to settle all issues (Child Support, Custody, Division of Assets and Liabilities, etc), then, under this ground, the parties may jointly request of the Court a decree of divorce after the expiration of 30 days (an uncontested divorce)
However, if the parties want to fight, they can proceed with a divorce case under the first ground or any of the following grounds:
(2) Intermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity;
(3) Mental incapacitation;
(4) Impotence at the time of getting married;
(5) Force, duress and fraud
(6) Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown to the husband;
(7) Adultery by either spouse
(8) Willful and continued desertion by either of the spouses for the term of 1 year;
(9) Conviction of a felony and imprisoned for a term of 2 years or longer;
(10) Habitual drunkenness;
(11) Cruel treatment;
(12) Incurable mental illness.
(13) Habitual drug addiction. (Georgia Code - §19-5-3)

Every divorce matter filed in Georgia must state a ground for the Court to grant the Divorce, a ground that must be substantiated with evidence at trial. If you would like further explanation of the ramifications of the grounds for divorce and how they could potentially affect your case, please call SHAPIRO LAW GROUP at 770.604.9292 for a free consultation.

Atlanta Child Support Cases

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by a Moni Basu, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She had seen a previous posting on this blog where I had commented on the clear and dramatic increase that I had observed in people seeking to modify existing Child Support Orders. She was seeking my input into an article she was working on concerning how the Atlanta economy was affecting patents ability to obtain or pay for child support. As part of article, she interviewed several of my clients for whom the dramatic changes in the economy were wreaking havoc in their abilities to provide for their children.

The bottom line is that if you are in need of a modification or you are not receiving support for a non-custodial parent, it is in your best interest to address the issue as soon as possible. The financial problems our country is facing will likely grow worse over the short term, before we see any significant improvements.

Acting to protect yourself before all assets or other means of support have evaporated serves no one's best interest. Obviously, if you have any questions or concerns about your own matter give SHAPIRO LAW GROUP a call at 770-604-9292 to discuss the specifics of your matter. We give free phone consultations and are always willing to speak with potential clients.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Georgia Child Support Enforcement- When the Money Dries Up

A few days ago the New York Times published yet another article addressing the dramatic rise in Child Support Enforcement/Modification cases that are beginning to inundate the Countries civil courtrooms. Georgia's unemployment rate now rests at 9.3% and is predicted to rise above 10% before the end of the year Georgia, where the unemployment rate is predicted to rise to over ten (10)%) percent before the end of 2009. These figures don't even begin to reflect individuals who are under-employed, earning far less today, then they did 12 to 24 months ago. Based on anecdotal evidence, the conversations I have been having with other members of the Georgia Divorce Bar point to inescapable fact that Georgia is also facing an explosion in Modification and Contempt actions. While I wrote about this phenomenon three months ago in a previous post, describing the methodology for obtaining a Modification of Child Support, I do not think I truly comprehended the enormity of the financial problems facing our community and the concurrent effects it is placing on non-custodial parents.

However, I have found what I consider to be a small sliver lining. In the last several months I am also seeing a rise in the number of legitimation cases. This is the process whereupon a father claims a child or children as legally his, and seeks either custodial rights or a formal visitation plan. Although the impetus behind this increase is likely the lowering of child support payments, anything that encourages both parents to spend more time with their children has to be seen as a positive turn of events.

I will keep my eye on the future impact of the economy on my Divorce Practice and will report back any observations. Obviously, if you have any questions or concerns about your own matter give SHAPIRO LAW GROUP a call at 770.604.9292 or send me an e-mail if you want to discuss the specifics of your matter. We give free pone consultations and are always willing to speak with new potential clients.

Atlanta Child Support Cases

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by a Moni Basu, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She had seen a previous posting on this blog where I had commented on the clear and dramatic increase that I had observed in people seeking to modify existing Child Support Orders. She was seeking my input into an article she was working on concerning how the Atlanta economy was affecting patents ability to obtain or pay for child support. As part of article, she interviewed several of my clients for whom the dramatic changes in the economy were wreaking havoc in their abilities to provide for their children.

The bottom line is that if you are in need of a modification or you are not receiving support for a non-custodial parent, it is in your best interest to address the issue as soon as possible. The financial problems our country is facing will likely grow worse over the short term, before we see any significant improvements.

Acting to protect yourself before all assets or other means of support have evaporated serves no one's best interest. Obviously, if you have any questions or concerns about your own matter give SHAPIRO LAW GROUP a call at 770.604.9292 or send me an e-mail if you want to discuss the specifics of your matter. We give free pone consultations and are always willing to speak with new potential clients.