Atlanta, Georgia Family Law Blog

Child custody arrangements can be difficult to determine for many reasons. Points of contention can range from lifestyle choices, such as a parent's smoking, to fundamental differences on a child's religious upbringing or schooling.

An Atlanta child custody attorney is often asked to resolve such issues.

Sometimes, a spouse's military deployment can be a factor in child custody decisions. But under a bill proposed in the U.S. House last month, judges would not be allowed to consider certain types of military deployments by a parent when determining the best interest of the child for custody purposes.

Under current law, a military deployment can work against a spouse who is trying to maintain custody rights.

The proposed bill would add a provision to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which was originally passed by Congress in 2003.

The change would not apply to all types of deployment. But it would apply to deployments in which the military orders include a prohibition on family members accompanying the service member. Combat assignments are clearly the most prominent example of this.

There's a huge, qualitative difference between raising a child and buying a car. But if most parents knew just how expensive it is to care for a child, they might well suffer from sticker shock. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in 2010 that it costs over $200,000 for a middle-class family to raise a child from birth to age 18.

Understandably, then, child support is an important matter to resolve for many divorcing couples in Georgia. When it comes time to talk with an Atlanta divorce attorney, arrangements for making child support payments are often a key issue.

Recently, the question of jailing so-called "deadbeat dads" has garnered considerable attention in Georgia. Five fathers who were jailed for failing to pay child support are challenging the use of incarceration for nonpayment in a lawsuit brought against the state of Georgia

The men argue that, if someone is unable to pay, jailing them for nonpayment amounts to a form of debtor's prison. Their lawsuit may become a much larger one, if thousands of other parents who did jail time for failure to pay child support are allowed to join in.

Money is a factor in many divorces. Arguments about money can strain the relationship between spouses and contribute to a decision to end the marriage.

This is as true of divorce in Atlanta as it is anywhere in the country. Couples get tired of arguing about the bills or financial priorities and finally decide to split.

But the decision to divorce is in many ways only the beginning, not the end, of money issues. Property division must be done fairly, but it can be tricky in a post-Recession economy in which setting up two households isn't as easy to do as it used to be.

This is especially true for people who have been married awhile and may even be nearing retirement. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, later-in-life divorce involves significant financial challenges.

For example, a partner who has not taken steps to develop a credit history and be fully informed about the couple's finances could have problems getting credit or managing money after the marriage ends. Not surprisingly, it is still far more often women than men who end up in this situation.

Health insurance coverage is another important consideration. In marriages of long duration, often one party has a work-related policy that also covers a spouse. In the event of divorce, it therefore becomes very important to resolve the issue of insurance coverage for both parties.

It's no secret that the holidays tend to be a stressful time. From the cultural shopping frenzy to the heightened expectations of the season, it can be a lot to cope with for almost everyone.

But divorce adds a whole other level to the usual holiday challenges. To former spouses trying to rebuild their lives, trying to make it a happy time for the kids is not easy at all.

If you are going through this, keep in mind that you are not alone. In fact, the data show you have plenty of company. This is as true for divorce in Atlanta as it is elsewhere in the country.

Nationally, the number of children who will go through the holidays this year for the first time since their parents divorced is over one million. There are also millions of children who have already done this.

That's a whole lot of kids. And the ways in which ex-spouses can spoil the fun for them are many and various.

In a divorce - in Atlanta or anywhere else - the property settlement is important. Each party wants to be able to start a new life with as much clarity as possible about finances.

But dividing up the house in a marital settlement is a lot more challenging than it used to be. The Great Recession and the accompanying housing slump have seen to that.

A house is still often the largest asset that a divorcing couple has. In today's economy, however, it may also be their largest liability. About 1 in 5 U.S. households suffers from "negative equity" in their home. In other words, they are underwater on their mortgage.

And with the real estate market still languishing, that number seems likely to keep rising.

This reality cannot help but affect the property division in a divorce between a husband and wife who owned a home together. For one thing, even if the couple is prepared to take a loss, it is far more difficult to sell a home than it used to be. It raises the prospect of a short sale, which would require an agreement with the lender.

Divorce rates are generally higher in the South than elsewhere in the U.S. But then again, marriage rates tend to higher in the South too.

Last month, the Census Bureau released a report showing that, in the South, 10.2 men per 1,000 and 11.1 women per 1,000 got divorced in 2009. The national average is a divorce rate of 9.2 for men. For women, it is 9.7.

Diana Elliott, a Census Bureau demographer, offered an explanation of the figures. "Divorce rates tend to be higher in the South because marriage rates are also higher in the South," she said. "In contrast, in the Northeast, first marriages tend to be delayed and the marriage rates are lower, meaning there are also fewer divorces."

The Northeast had the lowest divorce rates in the country, according to the Census Bureau. The rates there were 7.2 men per 1,000 and 7.5 women.

Georgia was one of 14 states that had a divorce rate higher than the national average.

Divorce occurs after marriages of many different durations. The first year is notoriously difficult. Once those early storms are past, there is often a period of relative calm - though even then, divorce can occur at any time.

And then there is later-in-life divorce. In recent months, there have been some high-profile cases nationally featuring the likes of Al and Tipper Gore, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tipper Gore, and the rock singer John Mellencamp and his wife, Elaine Irwin.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that the number of couples making it to their silver wedding anniversaries and beyond is decreasing.

The emotional pain of such splits cannot be calculated. In a long-standing marriage, however, there are also often difficult legal issues involved in untangling two lives that were so intertwined.

The trick is to not become personally unraveled as the tapestry of marriage gets pulled apart.

The Great Recession is reshaping American life in ways scarcely imaginable even four years ago. Housing values are still down, foreclosures remain common and jobs are hard to come.

This challenging period of economic uncertainty has been going on for so long it's almost become a new normal - at least for a while.

What have the effects of all this financial change been on divorce?

Commentators have noted recently that both divorce rates and housing prices have gown down in tandem. It may be that many couples have chosen to stay together, at least until their personal finances improve. This may be particularly true for couples who are severely underwater on higher-end homes.

Some couples may be using this enforced togetherness to seek reconciliation with each other. Others are biding their time, trying to make the numbers work to split up as soon as they can afford to maintain a second household.