When a Georgia decree awards one undivided sum for a spouse and the children, the payments do not drop automatically as each child reaches majority.
The Award Is Indivisible
Blalock v. Blalock, 214 Ga. 586 (1958), states it: a decree awarding a given sum for the wife and children “can not be prorated among them so as to separate the amount awarded to the wife and to the children,” because “the award is to the group as a family unit.” In Lord v. Lord, 231 Ga. 164 (1973), a husband paying $40 a week for wife and child argued that once the child reached majority he owed only $20. “There is no merit in this contention.”
When the Decree Does the Math
The exception is a decree that shows the split. In Burns v. Rivers, 244 Ga. 631 (1979), the husband paid $650 a month for the wife and child, “reduced by a sum of $250.00 per month” when the child turned 18. When she remarried, her $400 share “abated upon her remarriage,” because the decree supplied the figures.
The Remedy Is Modification
Otherwise the payer’s route is a modification petition based on changed finances. In Nash v. Nash, 244 Ga. 749 (1979), the Supreme Court held that the court “may modify the group award into a per capita award according to the needs of the recipients.” Van Dyck v. Van Dyck, 263 Ga. 161 (1993), applied both: an unallocated award “cannot automatically be prorated among the wife and children upon the happening of some contingent event regarding the children,” but it can be modified. Modifying alimony and child support each has its own posts.
Why These Awards Are Rare Now
OCGA 19-6-15(c)(2)(A) requires a decree involving minor children to “[s]pecify in what sum certain amount, the duration of such support, and from which parent the child is entitled to permanent support.” So child support is now stated separately, and undivided awards mostly appear in older decrees.
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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!