A Georgia court awarding attorney’s fees in a divorce must weigh both spouses’ financial circumstances, and an award with no evidence of them will be reversed.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-6-2(a)(1) leaves the award to the court’s discretion, “except that the court shall consider the financial circumstances of both parties as a part of its determination of the amount of attorney’s fees, if any, to be allowed against either party.”
The Evidence Has to Be There
In Findley v. Findley, 280 Ga. 454 (2006), a $500 award was reversed because “there is no evidence of the parties’ financial circumstances that authorizes such an award.” In Moon v. Moon, 277 Ga. 375 (2003), the only financial evidence in the order showed the wife earning half of what the husband did, yet the husband got the $14,300 award; “[s]uch evidence does not support the conclusion that the award of attorney fees was to ensure that the recipient spouse could afford effective representation.”
What Counts
They mean more than a paycheck. In Klardie v. Klardie, 287 Ga. 499 (2010), a husband “underemployed and unemployed by his own doing” paid part of the fees of a wife who earned far more, because “earning capacity is an appropriate means to determine an award of attorney fees.” In Jarvis v. Jarvis, 291 Ga. 818 (2012), a husband’s support from his mother counted too, since “there is no statutory limitation on the type of evidence of” financial circumstances a court may consider.
What Does Not Count
Conduct. In Weaver v. Weaver, 263 Ga. 56 (1993), fees awarded because a wife was at fault for refusing to settle were vacated; that question “is wholly irrelevant to the inquiry whether attorney fees should be awarded in the first instance.” Nor is expert testimony on the value of the work required; “trial judges are quite capable of placing a value on the legal services rendered by an attorney.” Webster v. Webster, 250 Ga. 57 (1982).
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