December 2013

The Family Lawyer
Official Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association Family Law Section

Save the Date!

Mark your calendars for the following Family Law Section Event

Details are subject to change. Check your emails and the Atlanta Bar Association website for updates.

Family Law Section Breakfast

January 9, 2014 (7:30 AM - 9:00 AM)

Topic: "View from the Bench"

Speaker: The Honorable Cynthia J. Becker,

DeKalb County Superior Court

Section Members: $18 in advance, $25 at the door

Non-Members: $25 in advance, $30 at the door

Summary of Family Law Section July Breakfast Speaker

By Emily Su-Hwa Yu, Esq.

Hunter, Weinstein & Somerstein, LLC

On October 10, 2013, the Honorable Christopher C. Edwards, Chief Judge of the Superior Court of Fayette County, spoke to members of the Atlanta Bar Family Law Section. Chief Judge Edwards began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Griffin and Brunswick Judicial Circuits before practicing for seventeen years at a private jury trial firm. In 1998, Chief Judge Edwards took the bench and has been elected to his position for three terms without opposition. Chief Judge Edwards is now working closely with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution in implementing a pilot project to offer parties a new alternative dispute resolution option known as "Summary Jury Trial."

Read the entire article

Case Law Update

By Stephanie L. Wilson, Esq., and Corey A. Aitken, Esq.

Stern & Edlin, P.C.

Williamson v. Williamson

S13A0953

October 7, 2013

Pursuant to an order modifying custody, parenting time, and child support, the trial court awarded Mother and Father joint physical custody of their two minor children, with Father having the children 60% of the time and Mother having the children 40% of the time. Additionally, the modification order required Father to pay child support to Mother, for the support and maintenance of the minor children. However, a parenting time deviation was applied, so as to reduce Father's presumptive amount of child support.

Father appealed the child support portion of the order, arguing that it was improper for the lower court to require a custodial parent to pay child support to a non-custodial parent. The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected Father's position, specifically providing that the "touchstone for determining child support remains the "best interest" of the children". Therefore, it is within the bounds of the statute to require a custodial parent to pay child support to the other when "the best interest of the child requires that money be provided [to] the non-custodial parent to provide for a proper visitation" (citing James v. James, 246 Ga. 233, 271 S.E.2d 151 (1980)).

Read the entire article

Simplifying the Child Support Guidelines

By Randall M. Kessler, Esq.

Kessler and Solominay LLC

How many times have we heard the question "how does child support work"? The answer is often long, complex and confusing. There are calculations that need to be made, and questions that need to be answered (e.g., how many children, who pays for health care).

To help simplify the answer, we have developed an App for the Georgia Child Support Guidelines that is available for iPhones, Android phones and on the web (iPad version is coming in the next few days). Links to the App appear below. The App certainly should not and does not substitute for legal advice or for using the official calculator and worksheets. There are many variables that affect the determination of child support and certainly no one should rely on the App as if it were legal advice. We hope that it will give a broad, initial projection so that people will have a general idea of the possible child support result in their cases.

Try it, there are no costs and no advertisements. And if you like it, please rate it and share it.

To locate the App in the iTunes App Store, search "GA Child Support" or click here.

The Android version can be found in the Play Store or Google Play by searching "GA Child Support" or by clicking here.

To learn more about the Georgia Child Support Guidelines, feel free to visit the overview (and you may view and use the full calculator) on our site here.