Category: Blog

In Georgia, a will directs your executor to distribute your estate according to your wishes. A living will, also called an Advance Healthcare Directive, directs your healthcare agent to act on your wishes regarding medical treatment if you are unable to communicate them yourself. 

This is a question that is frequently asked by property owners. The short is answer is that you cannot take someone off title. The owner that you wish to take off title must consent to relinquishing their ownership interest and they must sign a deed of conveyance in accordance with the law.

The reason why the other owner must consent to their removal is that the first owner legally gave the second owner the same rights and interest held by the first owner; therefore a conveyance occurred and cannot be undone without the second owner’s consent.

There are certain exceptions to the rule, such as divorce or a Petition for Partition. Both instances are lawsuits and must be litigated in court to force an owner’s removal from the deed or to correct the chain of title.

Have you ever watched a criminal television show and seen someone arrested? If so, then you probably have memorized the reading of Miranda rights: “…Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”. While what you say can be used against you, the same is true for anything you write. Did you know that you are potentially creating evidence everytime you write something? You may want to think twice before sending that e-mail, text message, facebook post or mailing a letter. Technology makes it very easy for us to instantly communicate or respond to each other but lulls us away from thinking about what we are communicating before sending. It’s usually a good idea to “sleep on it” before you decide to hit send. If you are represented by an attorney, ask your attorney to review your message before sending.

If you are contemplating divorce and own real property, there are several tax and legal considerations that you must be aware of before committing to a 1031 exchange. Below is a link to a great article on the timing and impact of deferred exchanges before, during and after a divorce.

DURING AND AFTER A DIVORCE

Disclaimer: This link will take you a website that is not affiliated with www.andersonfamilylaw.com

Laura W. Anderson Esq LLC does not intend the article or website as legal or financial advice.

In Georgia, parties to a divorce are required to complete a sworn financial statement called a Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit. Information in this document is then entered in the Georgia Child Support Worksheet, which populates a child support obligation for both parties. Income of the parties, the number of children, any special needs of the children, social security payments and other factors are used to determine the child support amount. In some cases an upward or downward deviation in the child support amount may be applied based on high or low income. It is important to have an attorney assist you in entering in your financial data correctly in the child suport worksheet to ensure the obligation is computed fairly and accurately.

One example of child support based soley on the parties the parties’ combined adjusted monthly income of $10,000.00 for one child is $1,259.00. This is not necessarily the amount you would pay if your combined monthly income was $10,000.00 with one child. This is an example for illustrative purposes.