GEORGIA: EQUITABLE
DISTRIBUTION Vs. COMMUNITY PROPERTY
BE SMART-UNDERSTAND
THE LAW
By: Douglas J. Davis
Georgia is an "EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION
STATE"
What is, in plain English, the
difference between a "community property state" and an
"equitable distribution state". In a community property
state the marital property is generally split 50/50.
However, Georgia follows equitable distribution rules which
means the Court does not have to divide everything equally.
Here is
what the Court looks at:
1. First they identify and
determine what is marital property and pre-marital property
2. Next they determine the value of marital property
3. Finally, they decide whether or not to grant a monetary award and/or
divide the marital pension assets as an adjustment of the equities and
rights of the parties
4. Earning power of the spouses compared to the other Spouse
5. Separate property of the spouses
6. One spouse having done all the work to acquire the property or inherited
the property
7. The value that one spouse contributed as the home-maker for the family
8. Economic fault of one spouse in wasting and dissipating marital property
9. Duration of the marriage
10. Age and relative health of the spouses
11. The responsibility for providing for children of the marriage
12. Spousal abuse or marital infidelity (to penalize the offending spouse)
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