In a Georgia alimony modification case, the court may award fees to the party who prevails, and when the paying spouse filed, it may also make that spouse pay the other side’s defense costs.
Two Statutes
Under OCGA 19-6-19(d), “the court may award attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses of litigation to the prevailing party as the interests of justice may require.” Under OCGA 19-6-22, when the party obligated to pay alimony files a petition under OCGA 19-6-19(a), “the court may require the party to pay the reasonable expenses of litigation as may be incurred by the party’s former spouse on behalf of the former spouse in defense thereof.” Both are discretionary, unlike the mandatory fee for losing a live-in-lover petition, which has its own post.
Who Prevails
In Shapiro v. Lipman, 259 Ga. 85 (1989), a husband asked to end or reduce his alimony because his former wife had received a substantial inheritance, and the jury cut it from $1,650 to $1,400 a month. The trial court called the wife the prevailing party and awarded fees. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed: the husband prevailed, “albeit not to the extent he might have hoped,” and that question belonged to the trier of fact (here, the jury), not the judge awarding fees. It still affirmed the wife’s award, because OCGA 19-6-22 authorized fees for defending a petition the paying spouse had filed.
Fees Before the Case Ends
In Hilsman v. Hilsman, 245 Ga. 555 (1980), a former wife whose income was mostly her alimony plus about $3,600 a year as a waitress asked for an interim award to defend her former husband’s petition and received $1,000. The Supreme Court upheld the award, holding that fees may be granted “if such fees are determined necessary to insure a proper defense, and upon consideration of the present financial circumstances of the parties.”
Fees after a dismissal have their own post.
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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!