Generally, no. Georgia treats the parent who receives child support as a trustee of the money, but its courts have not recognized a paying parent’s right to demand an accounting of how it was spent.
The Receiving Parent Is a Trustee
In Stewart v. Stewart, 217 Ga. 509 (1962), the Georgia Supreme Court held that when support is awarded for minor children, “the mother acquires no interest in the funds, and when they are paid to her she is a mere trustee charged with the duty of seeing that they are applied solely for the benefit of the children.”
No Accounting on Suspicion
The one Georgia Supreme Court decision on a paying parent’s suit for an accounting went against him. In Cohen v. Barris, 220 Ga. 131 (1964), a father alleged that the children said they needed money, that his former wife had called the family destitute, and that she deposited the support in her own account. The Court affirmed dismissal, holding that the petition “fails utterly to show allegations of ultimate fact that the mother has misused or misapplied the funds or reasons why the petitioner is entitled to an accounting, there being none authorized at law.”
Likewise, in Cooper v. Cooper, 241 Ga. 117 (1978), a father defending a contempt action was denied discovery of the mother’s income and bank accounts, and the Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion in treating her finances as “not relevant.”
Why the Law Presumes It Is Spent on the Child
In Hardman v. Hardman, 295 Ga. 732 (2014), the Court explained that “[t]he presumption remains intact that the custodial parent will” pay the child’s expenses “with the aid of the child support he or she receives,” because custodial and noncustodial parents “are not, by definition, similarly situated.” So you will need evidence of actual misuse, not suspicion, before a court will look at how the money was spent.
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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!