Family Law Flashcards
In GA, what happens if you decide to break off your engagement? What type of action might your fiancee have against you?
Breach of the promise to marry - contract action
What damages can you get for a breach of a promise to marry?
Actual damages (wedding preparation costs), mental suffering, counseling
What must you do with gifts given in contemplation of marriage?
You must return them.
How do you determine whether the gift was given in the contemplation of marriage?
Consider these factors:
- type of property given
- fraud
- conditions attached to the gift
- intent of the donor
How old do you have to be to marry in GA? What about with parental consent?
18: no parental consent
16 and 17 years old: okay to marry with parental consent
What’s it called when you can’t marry blood relatives?
Consanguinity of affinity restrictions
Who can’t marry in GA?
Parents and children Grandparents and grandchildren Siblings (whole or half) Aunts and nephews Uncles and nieces * 1st cousins can marry!
Who else can’t marry in GA (other than consanguinity of affinity restrictions)?
no gay marriage
mentally incompetent (can’t comprehend and voluntarily marry)
no physical capacity (must be able to have sex)
no bigamy or polygamy
Is there a waiting period b/w the time you get the license and when you can get married? Must you take a medical test?
No waiting period
No medical test
Who can solemnize the wedding?
- judge
- minister
- person of a religious sect authorized to perform marriages
What happens if the person who solemnized the wedding was improper?
Doesn’t affect the validity of the wedding
Improper officiant could be subject to FINES
Is common law marriage allowed in GA?
No. It was abolished in 1997. Any common law marriages existing before 1997 will be recognized.
Is physical presence required to get married?
Yes, both must sign the wedding license.
Is consummation required? What does consummation mean in this context?
Yes. Consummation means officiant signs marriage license
What are the 2 state of mind requirements
- no duress
2. capacity to consent: must have the mental capacity to understand your actions and agree to your actions
What are marriage articles?
Premarital contracts entered into between two parties
Contingent on the marriage
The consideration is the marriage itself
*if the contract is made in contemplation of divorce: premarital agreement
Must marriage articles be written? How many witnesses must sign?
They can be oral or written.
2 witnesses necessary
Requirements for a marriage article to be enforceable?
- good faith
- NO undue influence
* make sure it is fair and that one party didn’t take fraudulent advantage of another
* did both sides disclose all of their property and financial situations?
Does GA recognize tenancy in the entirety?
NO
How do spouses take property if not stated? (Default?)
Tenants in common
Are heart balm actions such as alienation of affects or criminal conversation recognized in GA?
NO. Spouse may be able to recover for loss of consortium in a negligence action against a 3rd party.
Does GA still recognize interspousal immunity?
Yes. However, the court won’t recognize if the traditional policy reasons for having it don’t apply in a particular case. (preserving marital harmony and preventing collusion by spouses)
Is there interspousal immunity if one spouse sues the other in wrongful death actions?
NO
When will a spouse be liable to a third party for the other spouse’s purchases?
When the purchases are NECESSARIES
Confidential Marriage Communications Privilege: what is it? who can waive/assert?
Can be claimed by either spouse. Only the spouse AGAINST whom the testimony is offered may waive.
Communications made during marriage that are confidential
2 ways that marriage ends?
- annulment
2. divorce
Annulment: when is it available?
If the marriage is VOID or VOIDABLE
Bigamy Consanguinity Insufficient age Lack of capacity Mental incompetence Duress Fraud
Voidable marriage
Event or condition affecting adequacy of consent to the marriage
A voidable marriage will be treated as valid UNLESS/UNTIL it is annulled.
The impediment can be removed (cured by ratification) –> insufficient age is an example
When will an annulment NOT be granted in GA?
If a child was born as a result of the marriage or a pregnancy resulted.
Void marriage
Null from inception
CANNOT be ratified
Who can attack a void marriage?
One of the two parties OR
a third party may collaterally attack
How can you ratify a voidable marriage?
Cohabitation after removal of the infirmity/defect
What is the effect of annulment?
The marriage is set aside AS IF it NEVER existed
Can alimony and child support be awarded in an annulment?
Yes (but remember that the child must have been before the marriage or else no annulment allowed if child born during marriage)
How can a divorce case be tried in GA?
judge OR jury!
What gives the GA court jurisdiction to hear a divorce case?
1 of the 2 parties must have been a bona fide resident of GA for at least 6 months before filing.
When will another state given full faith and credit to a GA divorce decree?
If 1 of the 2 parties had been a domicile of GA.
When will another state given full faith and credit to a GA decree that includes property rights, child support, etc?
GA court must have had personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
How does a P assert personal jurisdiction over D in GA when trying to get property rights, child support, etc decided?
Use the Domestic Relations Long-Arm Statute
When can you use the Domestic Relations Long-Arm to get PJ over a non-resident?
If nonresident
- maintains a matrimonial domicile in GA at the time P files the action OR
- D resided in GA before the filing (whether cohabiting or not)
What are the two types of grounds for divorces in GA?
- fault
2. NO fault
Fault based grounds
- adultery
- desertion for a period of 1+ year
- cruel treatment
- voluntary drug addition or habitual drunkenness
- mental incapacity
- conviction for moral turpitude crime AND 2+ years in jail
- force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the marriage
- the wife was pregnant with another man’s child at the time of the marriage and the husband did NOT know
- incurable mental illness
How do you prove adultery?
Circumstantial evidence:
- opportunity
- adulterous disposition
How do you prove incurable mental illness so that you can use “fault” grounds
court OR 2 physicians must say incompetent
What are defenses to fault based grounds for divorce?
- collusion
- connivance
- condonation
- recrimination
What is collusion?
Defense based on parties (spouses) agreeing to simulate the grounds for divorce
What is connivance?
Defense based on the WILLING consent by one spouse to the other’s misconduct
Ex: open marriage
What is condonation?
Defense that the spouse seeking fault based divorce forgave the other spouse with full knowledge that a marital offense has occurred AND the spouse resumed living in a marital relationship
What is recrimination?
The party seeking the fault based divorce has also committed a fault. (form of unclean hands)
Parties will have to use no fault divorce
No fault divorce: what do you need to show?
Show that the marriage was irretreviably broken with no possibility of reconciliation
How long do you have to wait to get a no fault divorce?
30 day waiting period
Why would one spouse want to institute an action for legal separation and NOT divorce?
It leaves the marriage intact in name only (religious reasons possibly?)
But, legal separation allows for a division of property and alimony awards just like divorce
How is property divided in Georgia?
Equitable division of marital property
How does court determine equitable division of marital property?
- court determines what is separate property and what is marital property
- makes an equitable division
What does equitable division?
EQUITABLE DOES NOT MEAN EQUAL
What is separate property?
Property owned prior to marriage and any appreciation
Any property acquired during marriage b/c of gift or inheritance
How does the court handle “mixed property?”
Mixed property is property that means both separate and marital.
Court will separate it unless the two are inextricably mingled
Example of mixed: pension you had before coming into marriage
Equitable division factors: 4 categories
- Spouses’ characteristics and backgrounds
- Spouses’ assets + standard of living
- How did spouses accumulate their assets?
- What considerations of the spouses should be considered?