A Georgia statute permits awards of legal fees to a party in divorce or alimony cases, or in actions for contempt of divorce or alimony judgments. Yet, while the statutory language imposes no different requirements for a fee award in a contempt proceeding than in an original divorce/alimony case, in...
A previous article addressed the general jurisdiction and venue rules for divorce actions in Georgia. This sequel focuses on the provisions of our long-arm statute, which includes separate grounds for personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants in domestic relations cases. Specifically, this...
All Georgia divorce actions must be filed in the State’s superior court, which is a court of equity.(1) Because courts of equity apply equities to their decisions, they also ordinarily consider equitable defenses in their rulings.(2) One such defense is “laches.” This article explores the applicabil...
Actions seeking redress for a former spouse’s alleged violation of a divorce decree seem commonplace. Yet, while a court ordinarily possesses wide discretion to determine whether a party is in contempt of its decree, the process the court must undertake to determine the meaning of its judgment diffe...
Generally, Georgia law authorizes entry of default judgments against defendants who fail to timely file defensive pleadings in civil actions. That general rule, however, does not apply to defendants in designated domestic relations cases. This article will discuss the consequences of a defendant’s f...