Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

Frequently Asked Questions: Georgia Divorce

Fri, 18 May 2012 09:43:02 -0600

Question: My wife left me and took our children with her. I have not seen them for three years. How can I find her to serve divorce papers and seek custody?

Answer: Some lawyers and most private investigators have access to databases that should be able to show where the other party is living. If you are trying to handle the divorce without the help of an attorney, you will likely need to hire a private investigator to find our where she is. Once you find where she is living, you can then personally serve her with the divorce papers to start the divorce process.

Question: Can I legally ask my husband for a separation but not have to leave my home?

Answer: Georgia does not recognize a “legal separation.” When you file for divorce, you assert in the pleadings that you are living in a “bona fide state of separation.” That simply means that you and your husband have not had marital relations (sex) since a certain date. There is an action for separate maintenance that can be filed in certain circumstances, but you should schedule a consultation with an Atlanta divorce lawyer to determine whether your specific situation would fall into this category.

Question: How do I get a divorce if my spouse won’t sign the papers, attend the classes, or follow through with any of the requirements?

Answer: If your spouse won’t cooperate, you may have to schedule the case for a final contested hearing. Before you attend this hearing, however, it is strongly recommended that you consult with an Atlanta divorce lawyer to make sure that you have prepared all your paperwork correctly for a final divorce. If your spouse does not attend a parenting class, some judges will still grant the divorce but may deny visitation to the offending spouse until he/she attends the class.

Divorce and Patents in Georgia

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:36:47 -0600

In a divorce in Georgia, the Court has the power to equitably divide property acquired by the labor of the parties during a divorce. For the most part, this means tangible items like houses, cars, retirement accounts, and bank accounts. But what does the Court do with intellectual property—how can they equitably divide an idea?

Georgia Courts have not specifically addressed whether a patent is a marital asset, but they have addressed intellectual property in the form of legal and medical degrees. In Lowery v. Lowery, 262 Ga. 20 (1992), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the education and degree of the Husband were not akin to real property, and could not be valued as an asset upon divorce. The Court stated that the value of the intellectual property was “too speculative to calculate, being simply the possibility of enhanced earnings they provide. That potential may never be realized for any number of reasons.” The Court went on to state that a degree cannot be transferred and its value terminates upon the death of the Husband. However, unlike a non-transferable asset like education, patents can be sold and there is a thriving market in the sale of patents. Further, patents generate tangible (or otherwise valuable) assets—a patent was behind the creation of every piece of modern technology.

The distinction between a patent and a degree is that a patent is the property of the creator, and the right to intellectual property is one granted by the Constitution, thus it is the right of the creator to sell the patent as he or she chooses. Based on the constitutional granting of these rights, the Georgia courts could take the view that patents are non-marital assets, but include a patent’s potential when considering a party’s ability to pay alimony. Further, the income generated from a patent or intellectual property could be considered income, and a former spouse could receive an entitlement to a percentage of the income generated from the patent as an equitable division of property.

Again, the Supreme Court of Georgia has not addressed this issue in particular, but the Court may look to the case of Goldstein v. Goldstein, 262 Ga. 136 (1992) to determine the value of intellectual property. In Goldstein, the Supreme Court found that the income from an attorney’s contingent fee agreements was not a marital asset due to the fact that it was “nearly impossible” to determine the amount of work and expense that would go into generating income from intellectual property. This would mean that even if the Court determined that a former spouse was entitled to a percentage of the income generated from a patent, the income may never be realized.

The number of international patents filed in 2010 alone totaled more than 160,000, so although Georgia courts have determined that the value of intellectual property is speculative, it is clear that it is an issue that the court will soon have to address.

By Elizabeth Doak, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Exit Strategies: Atlanta Divorce and The Marital Home

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:27:46 -0600

In more than a few recent cases, the stumbling block to settling the case has been the marital home. As a result of the real estate market meltdown, Atlanta divorce attorneys have had to rethink how they structure agreements regarding real property. So what do you do in a case when neither party wants the marital home? It’s the proverbial hot potato no one wants to be left holding.

When clients are contemplating walking away from a home, our job as divorce attorneys is to eliminate or at least minimize a client’s loss when structuring an exit strategy. The first step in making this happen is to ensure the client has the information necessary to make an educated and informed decision. One of the key pieces of information is how much equity, if any, is in the property. Knowing whether the client would need to bring funds to the closing table if the property were sold allows us to immediately rule out certain options. Other critical facts clients need to be aware of include who is listed as a borrower on the mortgage, how far the mortgage is in arrears and both parties’ financial condition and employment plans.

Several possible alternatives clients may want to consider include bankruptcy, foreclosure, leasing, a short sale and a limited sale. Something I am seeing more often in divorce practice is parties choosing to “walk away” from a property. Although this is not a situation we encourage, in some cases foreclosure is the only option. While “walking away” may not be the best moral decision for some, it may make sense, at least from an economic perspective, to those parties who owe much more than the home is worth. If the parties agree to a foreclosure, the parties need to ensure that the possibility of a Deficiency Judgment is addressed.

Other alternatives to consider are leasing out the property until the market recovers or placing the home on the market in the hope of a short sale. A short sale may not be an option, however, since most lenders won’t even consider an offer on the property for less than the amount owed, unless the borrowers are at least several months behind on the mortgage.

In situations when parties are underwater or facing foreclosure on the marital residence, it is important to have an experienced divorce attorney. Regardless of the situation, an improperly drafted agreement could leave a person with a financial obligation in the divorce case that they cannot even bankrupt. The few hundred dollars a person might save by not having a lawyer draft the agreement can easily be lost if they draft a bad agreement. A knowledgeable attorney can work with you to craft the right agreement, to suit your specific needs and minimize any losses.

By Alyssa Vaughn, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Refinance of marital home after divorce in Georgia

Mon, 07 May 2012 10:09:26 -0600

One of the most complicated financial aspects of a divorce can be what happens to the marital home when both parties’ names are on the mortgage. Since one party will likely move out of the marital home after the divorce, that party will likely want his/her name off the mortgage so he/she can buy a new home. If the other party doesn’t refinance to take the moving party’s name off the mortgage, the moving party's rights are going to depend on what is in the settlement agreement or final order granting the divorce.

If the final divorce documents are silent as to the mortgage, then there may be nothing the moving party can do because there is nothing requiring a refinance. If the final divorce documents state, however, that the ex-spouse must refinance within so many days, and he has not refinanced within this time frame, then the moving party can file a Petition for Contempt against him to force him to refinance.

Transcript Extremely Important for Appeal of Georgia Family Law Cases

Fri, 04 May 2012 18:20:16 -0600

The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently heard a case which emphasizes the importance of having a transcript for the Court to refer to on appeal in family law cases. Johnson v. Ware, A11A1559 (2012). In that case, the trial court consolidated two actions concerning custody and visitation of the children, one action filed by each party. In one action (the “Ware Action”), the mother sought a modification of the father’s visitation. In the other action (the “Johnson Action”), the father sought primary physical custody of the children. The cases were tried together by agreement of the parties. Id. at 2. After the trial (in which there was no transcript takedown), the trial court held that the mother should remain the primary physical custodian and included a Parenting Plan, which specifically outlined visitation. Id. at 3.

The father appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in modifying custodial rights he was given under the parties’ settlement agreement and divorce decree. Id. at 4. According to the Court of Appeals, however, he could not show reversible error because neither the settlement agreement nor the divorce decree was in the record on appeal. Id. In addition, there was no transcript so there was no evidence regarding how that issue was treated at trial. Id. at 5. The Court of Appeals held: “The burden is on the party alleging error to show it affirmatively by the record. When the burden is not met, the judgment complained of is assumed to be correct and must be affirmed.” Id. at 5. The Court, therefore, affirmed the trial court’s decision. The father also asserted that the trial court erred by refusing to hear all the evidence he offered at trial. Id. However, again, without a transcript, the father was unable to prove this assertion and the trial court’s order was affirmed. Id. at 6.

This case shows the importance of having the court reporter takedown the proceedings. The expense involved is likely worth it as it is nearly impossible to be successful on appeal without having evidence of what happened at the trial court level to which the Court of Appeals of Georgia or Supreme Court of Georgia can refer.

Incarceration for Failure to Pay Child Support in Georgia

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:16:05 -0600

In this economy, many fathers in Georgia, despite their best efforts to provide for their children, fall short of meeting their court ordered monthly child support obligation. Imagine for a moment that this has happened and Georgia Department of Human Services has filed an action against you, requesting your incarceration until you pay several thousand dollars in past due support. You are confident that the Judge will understand and you appear in Court ready to explain you situation. You tell the Court that you have been unemployed for months but just landed a new job, which will allow you to pay your current and past due support. You simply request time to bring your past due support current. The Judge disregards your predicament and issues an Order immediately incarcerating you. You spend the next several months in jail, without family or friends to help, unable to pay the past due amount. The practical result is that now you are unemployed, again, because the employer had to fire you. Despite putting yourself back in a position to pay child support, the Court has now eliminated that option for you.

In a Georgia contempt action, it is common practice to request the Court to incarcerate the non-paying party for willful and intentional underpayment or nonpayment of court ordered support. The situation I just described happened to five fathers in Georgia, who are now seeking to change the system. In March of 2011, these five fathers, represented by Southern Center for Human Rights, brought suit in the matter of Miller, et al. v. Deal, et al., Fulton County Superior Court Case, Civil Action File No. 2011-CV-198121. The suit challenges a Georgia law allowing Judges to incarcerate unrepresented parents in civil child support proceedings that have been brought against them by Georgia Department of Human Services.

On December 30, 2011, Judge Baxter granted the case class action status but the State has announced that it will be appealing this class action certification to the Supreme Court of Georgia. According to the Law Office for the Southern Center for Human Rights, “[i]n the past two years, Georgia has jailed over 3,500 unrepresented parents for child support debt in proceedings initiated by the State. Many of these parents are held for months – some for over a year – even though they have no money to pay and no way to earn money while in jail.” “Georgia Deprives Children as Indigent Parents Languish In Debtors’ Jail for Inability to Pay Child Support." Southern Center for Human Rights. Web. 03 Feb. 2012.

The case is pending appeal and it will be some time before we know what changes, if any, come about as of the result of this suit. So why does this matter? Is it right that indigent fathers are incarcerated sometimes for months or even longer without having had the benefit of legal counsel? The implications of the required changes to Georgia’s legal system if this suit is successful, are potentially far reaching. Georgia, like many states, is strapped for cash and given the sheer volume of these cases, the State will be forced to come up with the funding to provide counsel for these indigent parents.

By Alyssa Vaughn, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Are Personal Injury Settlements or Awards Considered Income for Purposes of Calculating Child Support in Georgia? - Part 3

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:00:12 -0600

In the first two parts of the discussion regarding personal injury awards in Georgia divorce cases, we examined whether personal injury awards were subject to equitable division. In part 3, we discuss how personal injury settlements and awards are handled when calculating child support in Georgia.

The first step when calculating child support in Georgia is to accurately determine the amount of each parent’s gross monthly income. So the question is, is a personal injury settlement or award included in gross income for purposes of calculating child support in Georgia? According to Georgia’s Child Support Statute, gross income is defined to specifically include personal injury awards as well as awards from other civil actions. OCGA § 19-6-15(f)(1)(a)(xvi). Nevertheless, even if a personal injury award is included in gross income, the statue allows a Court the authority in these types of situations to calculate gross income differently.

The frame of reference most often used in determining an individual’s gross monthly income is examining the parent’s income over the last year. For parents who have received certain types of settlements or awards, however, reviewing their income over the typical one year time period may result in the imposition of an inequitable child support obligation. Everyone loses when child support is set at an unsustainable amount and a parent is unable to meet their support obligation on an ongoing basis.

Fortunately, the legislature contemplated this potential inequity and crafted the Child Support Statute to allow for situations in which a parent’s sole income is from irregular payments or a single, lump-sum payment as a result of a personal injury suit. Under the law, when a parent has received such an award, the fact finder may permit gross income to be computed by averaging the amounts received over a reasonable period of time or permit a one-time lump-sum child support payment to be made of a percentage of the total award received. OCGA § 19-6-15(f)(1)(a)(xvi). If you have received an award or settlement as a result of a personal injury suit, an experienced Georgia family law attorney can assist you in determining the appropriate amount of child support in your particular situation.

By Alyssa Vaughn, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

New Study Says Divorce Can Kill

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:35:21 -0600

According to an article on HuffingtonPost.com, a new study entitled “Divorce and Death” which appears in the journal Psychological Science shows that failed marriages can have the same negative effect on your life expectancy as smoking.

The study produced results indicating that the risk of death is 23% higher for those who have gone through a divorce than those that stayed married. Researchers were surprised as they did not believe life expectancy would drop to levels comparable with smokers, heavy drinkers and the obese.

Men are at a much higher risk of early death than their former wives. It appears that having a wife helps keep husbands alive as the women generally serve as caregivers, noticeably prolonging life expectancy. Companionship with a nurturing woman seems to delay the slide into the poor health that comes with old age.

Study authors made sure to clarify that the association between divorce and death is not causal, meaning that they do not believe that the moment someone files for divorce years are shaved off their life. Instead, the research shows that “there is something uniquely difficult about remaining separated or divorced that accelerates time of death.”

Researchers believe that things like the cumulative strain of being a single parent, financial stress associated with a divorce proceeding or an intense and exhausting conflict with an ex cause the stress which can then cause premature death. In a roundabout way, one spouse’s bad personality trait, such as a tendency to belittle or a penchant for negativity, can be responsible for both killing the marriage and, in the long run, for killing the ex.

If you are facing a stress-inducing divorce and need advice, please contact one of our skilled Atlanta Divorce attorneys.

By Connor Alexander, Law Clerk, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Using a Parenting Coordinator in a Georgia Divorce

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:31:59 -0600

Although you and your spouse are ending your marriage, if you have children together then you will always have a relationship--you will always be parents. It is important to remember that the children must always be the focus of the divorce, and the goal should be to minimize the impact of the divorce on your children. However, divorcing parents often disagree about parenting issues like discipline, religion, education or household responsibilities. Disagreement about parenting issues can further escalate the tension in your relationship with your spouse and can be detrimental to your children. In situations in Georgia where a majority of the conflicts during the divorce are related to the children and differences in parenting style and philosophy, a parenting coordinator can be an invaluable resource.

A parenting coordinator is a psychologist or mental health professional who can help you and your spouse discuss parenting issues, determine what an appropriate parenting schedule will be for your time with the children, and help you come to a consensus about how you will be effective co-parents in the future. He or she can help resolve parenting issues that arise during your divorce, and can help you and your partner work together to reduce your conflicts related to the children. The parenting coordinator typically does not attempt to resolve marital issues, but assists with disagreements related to parenting only.

A parenting coordinator is not a guardian ad litem, who is a representative of the Court appointed to determine the best interests of the children, but one who works directly with the parents to attempt to resolve parenting issues outside of Court. With the Court or the parties' consent, he or she may make decisions for the parties on parenting or child-rearing issues, but parenting coordinators do not give legal advice. The value of the parenting coordinator is in resolving issues outside the courtroom, and can help you set establish a working relationship that allows you and your former spouse to be effective co-parents not only until the end of the divorce, but throughout your children's lives.

If you have questions about a parenting coordinator, or if you are a parent with concerns about how to work with your spouse during the pendency of your divorce, contact Meriwether and Tharp.

By Elizabeth Doak, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Five Costly Divorce Mistakes

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:42:45 -0600

A recent article on forbes.com addressed five costly mistakes made during divorce proceedings. Divorcing Women: Don’t Make These Five Costly Mistakes, by Jeff Landers, forbes.com. Though the author specifically addressed his article to women, both men and women are equally capable of making these mistakes, which could cause a divorce to be more expensive and go on much longer.

Mistake #1 – Texting. It is important to be extremely careful about any texts, emails or other forms of digital communication sent or received as they can, and likely will, be scrutinized in hops that they can be used as evidence against you in your divorce case. According to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“AAML”), there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases using evidence obtained from smart phones, including texts, over the past three years. In short, if something is written electronically, assume that your soon to be ex-spouse will see it.

Mistake #2 – Facebooking. Much like texts and emails, anything you put on your Facebook page, including status updates, pictures, and comments, can potentially be used against you in your divorce case. According to the AAML, there has also been an increase in evidence obtained from social networking websites over the past five years.

Mistake #3 – Dating. Many people going through a divorce make the mistake of dating before the divorce is finalized. Not only will this likely anger your spouse and likely make them more willing to fight you tooth and nail in the divorce action, but any money spent on your paramour could come back to bite you in the divorce proceedings.

Mistake #4 – Snooping. Depending on what state you live in, snooping on your spouse can get you in a lot of legal trouble. Though it may be tempting to access your spouse’s email, especially if you know his/her password, the article recommends that you consult with your divorce attorney first, to ensure you know your rights under Georgia law.

Mistake #5 – Shopping. The article also discourages shopping as a form of “feel good therapy” during your divorce. More often than not, trying to get back at your spouse by spending and or/ dissipating marital assets will only increase your debt and bring up another issue that needs to be addressed in relation to equitable division.

Making these mistakes may hurt your divorce case, but, if your spouse makes any of these mistakes, you may be able to use them to your advantage. It is important that you communicate with your Atlanta Divorce Attorney about all of these issues so that he/she can best use any available information to benefit your case.

Can smoking make you lose custody of your children?

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:39:18 -0600

I recently read an interesting article about how a parent’s smoking may affect child custody. Smokers losing custody cases a growing trend, by Myra Fleischer, The Washington Times. According to the article, “states are increasingly factoring cigarette smoking in making decisions about who gets custody of minor children. An anti-tobacco advocacy group surveyed custody cases involving smoking found that many courts have issued orders prohibiting smoking in the presence of a child, or even within 24 hours before a child arrives in the home. The survey further found that no court has ever ruled that subjecting a child to tobacco smoke should be ignored in deciding custody.

In Georgia specifically, custody is awarded according to the best interest of the child standard, and the court can consider any factor in making that decision. Thus, it is well within the confines of Georgia law for a judge to consider smoking as a factor in determining custody. According to the article, there was a Georgia custody modification case in which the mother was addicting to smoking and, after the divorce, her child was found to have asthma. In reaching its decision, the Georgia court “found that the mother was smoking in the presence of her child, which it said implied that she had insufficient concern for her child.” This reason alone was enough to change custody.

This article further shows how anything and everything can come into play in a custody battle, especially if the parent is engaging in an activity that is harmful to the child. If you are a smoker and going through a custody fight, and are unable to break the habit, at the very least you should not smoke in the presence of the children or allow others to do so.

Divorce and social security benefits in Georgia

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:04:36 -0600

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, elderly Americans may be missing out on potential source of extra money in their golden years: Social Security benefits from a former spouse. While the difference may not be enormous, it could be critically important to someone on a fixed income.

Though the issue is faced by both men and women, the fact that women typically earn less over their working lives means that they are more likely to be collecting less in benefits then they may be entitled to due to earnings of a former spouse. According to rules issued by the Social Security Administration, an individual is entitled to collect Social Security benefits according to one of three formulas: 1) based on his or her own earnings history; 2) 50% of his or her spouse or former spouse’s benefit if it is greater than their own; or 3) 100% of the former spouse’s benefit if the spouse is deceased.

There are a few stipulations in order for this to apply to divorced couples: 1) the marriage must have lasted 10 years or longer, and 2) the individual seeking a former spouse’s benefit must currently be unmarried, unless the second marriage occurred after the age of 60.

Here’s a good example of when a modification might be needed: your parents were married in the 1950s, your dad worked long, hard hours at the plant while your mom was busy at home raising the kids and working part-time when she had the chance. After years of marriage your parents decided to divorce and now face retirement. Your mother’s Social Security benefit comes to $800 per month while your dad’s stands at $2,000. Rather than continue collecting the $800, your mother is actually entitled to collect $1,000 per month if your dad is still alive and the full $2,000 if he is deceased.

As an added bonus, if the Social Security Administration determines a spouse is eligible for increased benefits, then that person will receive retroactive benefits going back six (6) months.

Source: “When a Divorce Pays Off,” by Ellen E. Schultz, published at WSJ.com.

By Connor Alexander, Law Clerk, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Are Personal Injury Awards Subject to Equitable Division in a Georgia Divorce? - Part 2

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:11:57 -0600

One commonly asked question in our Georgia divorce cases is “Will my spouse receive any part of my personal injury award in my divorce?" In Part 1 of this discussion, I discussed in general how Courts look at personal injury claims in Georgia divorces. In Part 2, I will discuss why “lump sum” personal injury claims settlements present an added layer of complexity.

As with many cases in litigation, parties settle personal injury suits. Often times the settlements are lump sum in nature. When I use the term “lump sum,” I mean that the settlement is for an agreed upon amount and it was never designated what part is for lost wages, what part is for medical bills and what part is for pain and suffering. As you can imagine, this creates a problem when trying to determine what part of the award should be divided between the spouses and what part of the award is actually the injured spouse’s separate property.

When you have this “lump sum” settlement scenario, it is very important that you have an experienced Georgia divorce attorney who will know how to either employ the personal injury attorney or an expert to establish the purpose for the award. Even if it is found that part of the personal injury settlement is subject to equitable division, the Court can still evaluate whether it would be “equitable” or “fair” for the non-injured party to receive a portion of those settlement funds.

By Alyssa Vaughn, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp. LLC

Are Personal Injury Awards Subject to Equitable Division in a Georgia Divorce? - Part 1

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:05:28 -0600

One commonly asked question in our Georgia divorce cases is from people who have received a personal injury award from either a car accident or some other injury. The question is usually, “Will my spouse receive any part of my personal injury award in my Georgia divorce?

Several divorce cases I have had the privilege of working on as a Georgia family law attorney have involved the issue of division of a settlement received as the result of a personal injury suit. In these cases, our clients had received substantial settlement awards as the result of automobile accidents. One of the contested issues in the Georgia divorce was ‘How much, if any, of those personal injury funds did they have to give their soon to be ex-spouse?’ After all, is it really fair that the ex-wife or ex-husband, who suffered no pain and lasting physical effects of the injuries, benefit from the other’s pain and suffering?

Fortunately, the law in Georgia does not allow one spouse to benefit from the misfortune and suffering of the other in this type of situation. In determining what part of a personal injury settlement award is subject to equitable division in a divorce, Georgia’s case law allocates these awards into separate and marital portions based on the purpose of the award. The marital portion of a personal injury award that is subject to equitable division are portions paid to the accident victim for medical expenses (previously paid with marital funds or incurred during the marriage) and lost wages for work missed during the marriage. The portion of the award that is separate property, not subject to equitable division, is the part of the award for pain and suffering, future medical expenses, future lost wages and punitive damages. “A personal injury claim settlement, to the extent that it represents compensation for pain and suffering and loss of capacity is peculiarly personal to the party who receives it. For the other party to benefit from the misfortune of the injured party would be unfair.” Campbell v. Campbell, 255 Ga. 461, 462 (Ga. 1986). This is also true for a soon to be ex-spouse’s loss of consortium claim. A loss of consortium is considered a loss peculiar to the claimant, so the award is separate property and not subject to equitable division.

By Alyssa Vaughn, Associate, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC

Inherited property is not always considered separate property in Georgia divorces

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:00:13 -0600

The Supreme Court of Georgia recently heard an interesting case regarding separate property in a Georgia divorce. Shaw v. Shaw, S11F1586 (2012). In that divorce case, the only issue was equitable distribution of certain property, particularly property in Florida inherited from Husband’s mother, and two accounts established by the Husband with inherited funds. Id. From the outset, the Husband directed that the property be deeded to him and his wife as tenants in common and established both accounts in the name of him and his wife, with a right of survivorship. Id. at 3-4. As a result, the trial court characterized these assets as martial property and divided them equally between the parties. Id. at 1.

The Husband appealed contending that the trial court erroneously characterized these inherited assets as martial property. Id. at 2. The Husband argued that the assets were established with funds he inherited from his mother and, thus were separate property not subject to equitable division. Id. Husband further argued that the Wife never contributed to the value of these assets, nor were they commingled with other marital funds so they should not have been transformed into marital property. Id. The Supreme Court of Georgia disagreed, holding that the accounts were “transformed into marital property when Husband gave Wife an ownership interest” on the accounts, specifically by putting her name on the accounts/deed. Id. at 3 and 4. Thus, the trial court properly characterized these assets as marital and there was no error in dividing them between the parties.

This case highlights the importance of how you treat inherited funds after you receive them. Inherited property doesn’t always equal separate property if it has not been treated as such.