Lump sum alimony is an award of a fixed total, paid at once or in installments, that cannot be modified later and does not end when the recipient remarries or either spouse dies.
The Winokur Test
Winokur v. Winokur, 258 Ga. 88 (1988), states the test: “If the words of the documents creating the obligation state the exact amount of each payment and the exact number of payments to be made without other limitations, conditions or statements of intent, the obligation is one for lump sum alimony payable in installments.”
So paying in installments does not make an award periodic. In Hardigree v. Smith, 291 Ga. 239 (2012), a settlement agreement called for $2,000 a month for 120 consecutive months and nothing more. When the wife remarried the husband stopped paying, and the Supreme Court held he could not: this was lump sum alimony and it “did not terminate upon [Wife’s] remarriage.” Attach a condition such as death or remarriage, however, and the award becomes periodic alimony, as our post on periodic alimony explains.
In the Nature of a Property Settlement
Because the total is fixed, “[a]limony in gross, or in a lump sum, is in the nature of a final property settlement.” Daniel v. Daniel, 277 Ga. 871 (2004). It is still support, set on need and ability to pay, and it may come from the corpus of the paying spouse’s estate. OCGA 19-6-5(a). It is not an equitable division of the marital property, which has its own post.
Why It Matters
OCGA 19-6-21 bars a modification petition where the former spouse “has been given an award from the corpus of the party’s estate in lieu of such periodic payment.” So the award is final on both sides: the payer cannot reduce it when income falls, and the recipient keeps it after remarriage or the payer’s death, as our posts on those events explain.
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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!