Once a Georgia decree orders cash alimony, the payer cannot swap in property or services on his own. A substitute counts only if the recipient accepted it as payment or the court approved it.
Handing Over Property Is Not Payment
In King v. King, 205 Ga. 697 (1949), a husband ordered to pay temporary alimony for his wife and eight children argued that she had taken “all and everything he had to make a living with, including cows, hogs, goats, chickens, corn, potatoes, hay, and all household and kitchen furniture.” The Georgia Supreme Court upheld his contempt; nothing showed “that the personal property was accepted in lieu of alimony payments.”
No Set-Off Against Alimony
In Baer v. Baer, 263 Ga. 574 (1993), a husband $17,400 behind was credited $11,000 for taxes and house expenses the decree never mentioned. The Supreme Court reversed: “In Georgia, due to the unique nature of the support obligation, a spouse obligated to pay support is not entitled to a set off.” Even a judgment against the recipient cannot be netted against alimony, “based upon an obligation imposed by law.” Equity excepts only unusual cases.
Changing the Form With Consent
Substituting property for cash takes the recipient’s agreement and the court’s approval. In Meredith v. Meredith, 238 Ga. 595 (1977), an agreed switch to a new car every third year instead of every year did not reduce what the husband owed, because the agreement had to be presented “to the court for its approval.”
A court may approve an alternative that leaves a way back to cash. In Wilson v. Wilson, 277 Ga. 801 (2004), where the decree let the husband employ the wife instead of paying alimony, the order had to “explicitly permit Wife to terminate that employment at any time without being deprived of the benefit of the alternative alimony.” And an enforcing court cannot later swap one asset for another, as our retirement-terms post shows.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!