A Georgia standing order can stop both spouses from selling, borrowing against, or moving property out of the court’s reach while the case is pending.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-1-1(b)(4) authorizes a standing order that “[e]njoins and restrains each party from selling, encumbering, trading, contracting to sell, or otherwise disposing of or removing from the jurisdiction of the court, without the permission of the court, any of the property belonging to the parties except in the ordinary course of business or except in an emergency which has been created by the other party to the action.”
Notice how many verbs that is. Encumbering covers taking out a loan against an asset you keep. Contracting to sell covers signing the contract, whether or not the sale ever closes.
The Ordinary Course of Business Exception
You are not expected to stop living. The statute excepts transactions “in the ordinary course of business,” which is what lets a business keep operating and ordinary bills keep being paid while a divorce runs its course. What it does not cover is a transaction outside your normal pattern, and the further a transfer sits from your ordinary dealings, the harder it is to defend.
What a Violation Costs
Seiz Joint Venture, LLC v. Seiz, 290 Ga. 719 (2012) shows the exposure. Months after his wife filed for divorce, a husband and his two brothers formed a new company, and the family partnership they already owned transferred Cobb County real estate valued between $3.2 and $4.6 million into it. The trial court found the husband in willful contempt of the Standing Order for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, added the new company as a party to the divorce, and awarded the wife a one-sixth ownership interest in it. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.
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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!