Atlanta Metro Family Law Blog

For many couples in Georgia with children, divorce may be an inevitable consequence of a struggling marriage. A divorce can be just as emotionally traumatic on the children as on the parents. This is why courts normally consider the best interests of the child when awarding custody and considering parenting plans.

To ease the conflict that children experience when parents split up, a leading child psychologist reminds parents of three things to keep in mind during a divorce and beyond. The three things in general are stability, positive reinforcement and respect for the other parent.

Some people in Georgia who are getting a divorce may need to get new medical and life insurance. Often, higher-earning spouses have the lower-earning spouse on an employer-sponsored health insurance plan. The spouse may have the option to extend the plan through COBRA, but this is both temporary and expensive. The Affordable Care Act may mean that less costly options are available even if the person has a preexisting condition.

In divorces that involve one person paying alimony to the other, life insurance may help protect that support. If the person who is paying alimony dies, the recipient could have those payments abruptly cut off. Some couples include a requirement to have life insurance in their divorce agreement.

People in Georgia who get a divorce when they are close to retirement age might be worried about its effect on their retirement, but even younger people may find their retirement savings endangered by divorce. In most divorces, a spouse is entitled to at least a portion of retirement savings.

Some people may choose to keep a retirement account and allow the spouse to take other assets of a similar value. If the person has a pension plan or a 401(k), this means it is necessary to prepare a complex document called a qualified domestic relations order. This document is needed to divide both of these types of pensions. If there is an IRA, it is not necessary. However, when making a decision about how to divide retirement savings, people should keep in mind the limitations associated with some of these assets. For example, withdrawals from an IRA before the age of 59.5 will incur penalties.

While family law matters were not supposed to resemble a battle of the sexes, sometimes it felt that way in the past when mothers were usually granted sole physical custody of their children after a divorce. After 1980, courts started recognizing joint custody as a better option for children. Courts in Georgia and other states are now more likely to believe joint physical custody should be awarded unless there is a valid reason preventing it.

Joint custody is often considered the new normal but that doesn't mean a child lives with both parents year-round. Practicality and logistical concerns do not always allow for joint physical custody, and this form of custody still often goes to the mother. However, there has been a rise in shared custody. A 2014 study looking at Wisconsin divorce records found that 5 percent of divorces with children in 1980 involved shared physical custody while 3 percent of cases involved unequal shared custody.