Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia
My wife and I have agreed on joint custody of our kids.It will be uncontested and she is not seeking child support. Can we file this on our own, or do we need a lawyer?
2 Answers from Attorneys
As a general rule, judges will reject a case without child support. It is very difficult to get ANY divorce okayed without legal help; a case with joint custody is harder than other cases to okay. Generally, unless your respective incomes and parenting times are similar, child support will be required. You definitely need legal counsel.
By joint custody don't know if you mean 50/50 or joint legal with more time with one of the parents. Regardless, even in a 50/50 schedule, if one parent makes more than the other, child support is usually paid with a built in parenting time deviation. The law is child support cannot be waived. I haven't seen it waived unless there is equal time, the parents' annual income is essentially the same, and there is some means of determining how expenses for the children will be paid/shared. You need to have the issue reviewed by an attorney.