A divorce settlement agreement that has been incorporated into a Georgia decree is construed under the same rules as any other contract.
The Same Rules as Any Contract
Kreimer v. Kreimer, 274 Ga. 359 (2001), states it directly: “Settlement agreements in divorce cases must be construed in the same manner and under the same rules as all other contractual agreements.” Those rules are found in OCGA 13-2-1 through 13-2-4. The starting point is OCGA 13-2-3: “The cardinal rule of construction is to ascertain the intention of the parties,” and where that intention is clear and lawful, “it shall be enforced irrespective of all technical or arbitrary rules of construction.”
Under OCGA 13-2-1, “[t]he construction of a contract is a question of law for the court.” So the judge decides what your agreement means, and an appellate court reviews that decision without deference. Sutherlin v. Sutherlin, 301 Ga. 581 (2017).
An Example
In Cousins v. Cousins, 253 Ga. 30 (1984), the wife was to receive the proceeds from selling 31,250 shares of the husband’s stock, less $175,000 he kept. Before the sale, the company declared a five-for-four stock split, and the husband argued the wife got the proceeds of only the original shares. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed. A stock split changes the form of a holding, not its value, and letting the husband keep the new shares “would allow him to reduce the value of the wife’s share of the marital property and defeat the intent of the parties.”
What a Court Will Not Do
The court construes the agreement; it does not improve it. “It is the function of the court to construe the contract as written and not to make a new contract for the parties.” Roquemore v. Burgess, 281 Ga. 593 (2007). If the words you signed produce a result you did not expect, the answer is rarely a different reading of them.
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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!