How to avoid paying alimony in Georgia requires a complete understanding of Georgia law regarding determination of alimony. Alimony in Georgia is neither requested nor guaranteed in every divorce case.
If applicable to your case, the following are some of the arguments you may want to consider raising to oppose an award of alimony.
Did your spouse cause the separation?
Where alimony is requested in a divorce in Georgia, the court will look at the cause of the spouses’ separation.
If your spouse is seeking alimony from you and your spouse is the one who caused the separation, you need to gather evidence of this cause of separation and present it to the court. Proving that your spouse’s adultery or desertion caused the separation is one way to get out of paying alimony in Georgia.
Avoid paying alimony in Georgia by proving adultery
If your spouse committed adultery and this adultery is the cause of the separation, you may want to present evidence of this adultery to the court and argue that your spouse’s request for alimony should be denied. This is because a spouse cannot get alimony in Georgia if that spouse’s adultery caused the spouses’ separation. Adultery could be proven via either direct or circumstantial evidence.
Avoid paying alimony in Georgia by proving desertion
Just as adultery could be a bar to alimony, desertion may be a bar to alimony as well. If a spouse’s desertion caused the separation between the spouses, that spouse is not entitled to alimony in Georgia.
Desertion basically means that a spouse has refused to cohabitate with the other spouse for some continuous period of time with the intent to desert the other spouse and without good reason or consent.
Is there a written agreement regarding alimony?
Where the spouses are voluntarily separated or where one spouse abandons or drives off the other spouse, the spouses may enter into a written agreement regarding spousal support. If the spouses enter into a valid, written agreement regarding spousal support, such an agreement may be a bar to a spouse’s right to permanent alimony.
Argue that your spouse does not need alimony and that you do not have the ability to pay alimony
Some of the factors the court may consider in determining whether to award alimony or not include the needs of the spouse seeking alimony and the ability of the other spouse to pay the requested alimony.
If you do not have the ability to pay the requested alimony based upon your financial circumstances (including your assets) and your spouse does not have that much living expenses, you may want to argue these factors in court.
If your spouse is asking for alimony in Georgia, call now to see what your options are. Atlanta Divorce Lawyer.