Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

Maybe. Before awarding alimony, a court must find that one spouse has financial need and that the other has the ability to pay. Georgia courts will also consider whether one spouse's behavior led to the breakdown of the marriage; a spouse who otherwise might have received alimony but committed adultery or abandoned the other spouse may be barred from receiving payments. Some of the factors impacting need and ability to pay include:

�each spouse�s earning capacity, separate estate, financial resources, and debts

�each spouse�s contributions to the marriage, including homemaking, child care, education, and career building for the other spouse

�the marital standard of living

�each spouse�s age, and physical and emotional condition

�any time necessary for either spouse to obtain education and training for appropriate employment, and

�the length of the marriage.

There is no formula for calculating alimony in Georgia; different factors may have more or less weight depending on the overall circumstances of a case. A judge has great discretion in deciding what amount to award, or whether to award any amount at all.

Note that without a lawyer, your chances of alimony are probably near zero, so get a lawyer.