A Georgia attorney’s lien cannot attach to child support, even when the lawyer’s work is what produced the payments.
The Lien Statute
Under OCGA 15-19-14(b), “[u]pon actions, judgments, and decrees for money, attorneys at law shall have a lien superior to all liens except tax liens.” Georgia courts have refused to apply that language to child support.
Why Child Support Is Different
In Law Office of Tony Center v. Baker, 185 Ga. App. 809 (1988), a lawyer obtained a divorce decree awarding his client $250 a month per child, then filed a lien against the support payments to collect his fee. The Court of Appeals held that child support “occupies a special niche in our law” because the mother “is a mere trustee” of the money, and that an attorney’s lien “is not enforceable against child support payments.” Otherwise it “would necessarily result in counsel for the custodian taking from the children involved, monies the court has determined to be necessary to assure their adequate support.”
Similarly, in Clayton v. Moore, 259 Ga. App. 688 (2003), a father’s lawyer in a federal life insurance case kept more than $28,000 in fees out of proceeds the superior court had already ordered paid as $53,500 in child support to the children’s aunt. The lien was dissolved, and the Court of Appeals saw “no reason to overrule” Baker.
The Parent Cannot Agree to It Either
In Thomas v. Holt, 209 Ga. 133 (1952), a mother agreed to pay her lawyer half of whatever support he collected from the father. The Georgia Supreme Court held the agreement “contrary to the policy of the law” and void, because “[i]n the receipt and use of such money, she acts as a trustee or guardian of the minor child.”
The lawyer is not left without a remedy. As Baker put it, “he can pursue his remedy against the person who employed him,” meaning the parent, not the child’s support.
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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!