A Georgia judge can give one spouse the temporary use of the family home as alimony, order the other spouse to keep paying for it, and decide nothing about who will own it.
The Home as Temporary Alimony
In Huggins v. Huggins, 202 Ga. 738 (1947), a wife asked the court to keep her husband out of their jointly owned house, and the judge gave her exclusive possession until the case ended. The Georgia Supreme Court held that “in a proper case the court may in its discretion award to the wife the temporary use of the home and household furnishings in lieu of an award in money,” and that a co-owner may be put out this way.
The Children Usually Decide It
The spouse with the children usually keeps the house. In Collier v. Collier, 228 Ga. 38 (1971), the husband got custody, the marital residence and the exclusive use of its furnishings, and the wife was barred from the premises except to exercise visitation; the Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion. In Maddox v. Maddox, 224 Ga. 313 (1968), the wife got the home and furnishings except one bedroom suite reserved to the husband.
Paying for It
The spouse who leaves can be ordered to carry the house. In Whitener v. Whitener, 238 Ga. 555 (1977), the temporary decree required the husband to satisfy a delinquent note on the residence awarded to the wife so it would not be foreclosed. He did not, the house was sold at foreclosure, and the Supreme Court affirmed his contempt.
It Settles Nothing About Ownership
Temporary possession is not title. In Butler v. Hicks, 229 Ga. 72 (1972), a wife holding a temporary award of the home died before the divorce was decided, and the court held the award “gives no property right which survives her death,” because the divorce, and the temporary alimony that depended on it, abated with her.
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