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Dawn of New Child Support Guidelines in Georgia

When the Georgia legislature first proposed new guidelines in 2005, they were to go into effect in July 2006. When they met in 2006, and passed Senate Bill 382, they delayed the effective date until January 1, 2007. Some of the 2005 bill’s more controversial provisions on visitation adjustments to child support (so-called parenting time adjustments) and automatic modification rights were eliminated in the final 2006 law. However, the law still provides that if there has been a substantial change in the financial conditions of either of the parties or the children since the date of the prior order, there may be a right to modify and the guidelines to be applied in cases pending on or after January 1, 2007, are the new guidelines described below.
Overview of Calculation of Child Support Under New Georgia Guidelines
Generally speaking, the steps are as follows:
1. Determine monthly Gross Income of each parent
2. Find Adjusted Gross Income by deducting (if applicable)
½ of self-employment taxes
Pre-existing orders for child support for other children
Theoretical child support order for other qualified children, if allowed by the Court
3. Add each parent’s adjusted gross income together to compute Combined Adjusted Income
4. Find the Basic Child Support Obligation on the statutory table
5. Find the pro rata share of Basic Child Support Obligation for each parent by dividing each parent’s adjusted income by the combined adjusted income
6. Find Adjusted Child Support Obligation amount for each parent
Prorate costs of health insurance (child’s portion)
Prorate costs of work related child care costs
Add prorated shares of those expenses to the prorated share of the Basic Child Support Obligation
7. Find the Presumptive Amount of Child Support by assigning or deducting each parent’s actual payments for health insurance (child’s portion) and work related child care costs
8. Apply any applicable Deviations to increase or decrease the presumptive amount of child support
9. Determine the Final Child Support Order
10. Allocate Uninsured Healthcare Expenses
Downloadable and online calculators are available at the Office of Child Support Services website. More information is also avail;able at the Georgia Child Support Commission's website.

Georgia Supreme Court upholds "floor" amount of child support

On July 6, 2006, the Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a Cherokee County Superior Court judge in Jones v. Jones, S06A0388. Presiding Justice Carol W. Hunstein wrote for the majority; Justices Benham and Hines dissented. From the Court's summary:

The Court found that a settlement agreement entered into by the parties was incorporated into their final decree of divorce. One provision of the agreement “provid[ed] for waiver of downward modification of alimony in the form of child support below a pre-determined ‘floor amount.’" Appellee sought a modification of his child support payments after a drop in his income and the trial court granted a reduction, having “determin[ed] that ‘a special circumstance of the requirements of justice and fairness necessitate a modification’ of its prior order and declared ‘void’ the floor amount provision in the settlement agreement.”

In reversing the trial court, the Supreme Court has ruled that a review of the record “establishes that there is no evidence of the ‘special circumstance of the requirements of justice and fairness’ referenced by the trial court to support its decision to deem void the waiver in the parties' settlement agreement of downward modification below a pre-determined ‘floor amount’ of alimony in the form of child support,” and that as a result “the trial court erred by relieving appellee of his obligations imposed by the settlement agreement incorporated into the divorce decree.”

In his dissenting opinion, Justice P. Harris Hines argues that by the terms of the settlement agreement the parties agreed to “waive their statutory right to future modifications, up or down, of the alimony payments provided for herein . . .." (Emphasis supplied.). However, “‘child support’ is not mentioned in the provision, only ‘alimony.’" As a result, Justice Hines would affirm the trial court’s “determin[ation] that the provision does not operate to waive Mr. Jones’s right to seek a downward modification of child support.” Justice Robert Benham joined in the dissent.

Georgia Legislature approves new Child Support Guidelines

After final-day wrangling on March 30, 2006, the Georgia House and Senate both passed the new child support guidelines, SB382. The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Sonny Perdue.

The April 2, 2006, edition of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution contained an article discussing some of the politics that resulted in the final bill.

Georgia divorces could take a lot longer

The Georgia General Assembly is once again considering a bill to extend the waiting period before finalizing a no-fault divorce in cases with minor children. From an article by Sonji Jacobs in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, published on 01/20/06:

Bill extends wait time for divorce
Counseling for couples with kids required

By SONJI JACOBS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/20/06

Married couples with children who want to call it quits with a no-fault divorce soon may have to wait four times as long.

The state Legislature is moving forward on a bill that would extend the waiting period for a divorcing couple with children from 30 days to four months. The 120-day waiting period would begin either at the time of separation or at the divorce filing, whichever comes first. Georgia law now requires a 30-day waiting period to obtain an uncontested divorce.

A divorcing couple with kids also would be required to attend a three-hour counseling course on the effect of divorce on families.

"Children prosper better when couples stay married," said Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), the bill's sponsor. "Divorce has a devastating effect on children. And the state doesn't really do anything to encourage the reconciliation of a marriage. What this bill does is provide a cooling off period for a no fault divorce and require the couple to attend classes so they can understand the full impact of divorce, not only on them as individuals, but on the children."

The bill would not affect divorcing couples who do not have children, and it has a provision that would waive the waiting period for victims of domestic violence.

Last year, the Senate voted in favor of a more stringent version of Senate Bill 25 that required divorcing couples with children to wait 180 days and couples without children to wait 120 days. But the House Judiciary Committee changed the bill to its current form and approved it in a tense 7-6 vote. The committee reviewed the bill again last week and approved it with a few minor, technical changes.

Now, the House Rules Committee could approve the bill for debate on the floor at any time, although the committee probably will consider the bill later in the session.

A spokeswoman for House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) said the House is not planning on debating any Senate bills yet. Each chamber has the first 33 days of the 40-day session to pass its own bills and move them over to the other legislative body for consideration.

State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), a House Judiciary Committee member, said that she supports the mandatory class for divorcing parents, but opposes the waiting period provision in the bill. "Every case is individual and personal," Oliver said. "A general waiting period only provides that the government interferes further with people's personal lives."

But Jamie Self, public policy director for the Georgia Family Council, an organization that has championed the bill, said state laws can help ensure that divorcing couples think about the impact of their decision on their children.

"We don't believe government has a silver bullet when it comes to family breakdowns," Self said. "Government won't solve the issue, but we do feel there is an appropriate role for our laws to play in shaping how we go about something as serious as divorce."

Child support laws in Georgia are changing

Last year, HB221 was passed and signed into law by Governor Perdue. The bill changed Georgia's approach to calculating child support from a "percentage of income" model, where the support was established as a percentage of the gross income of the obligor, to an "income shares" model, where the incomes of both parents are included in the calculation. The law had an effective date of July 1, 2006, and assigned to the Georgia Child Support Commission the task of creating the chart of Basic Child Support Obligations, based on current economic data.

The Commission completed its work in December 2005, and Senator Seth Harp has introduced SB382, which incorporates that chart and other changes to HB221. The bill is presently pending in the Georgia General Assembly.