The Family Court Judges’ Staff will be there, so that alone makes it worth attending. But more than that, over 70 lawyers are already planning to attend, so come learn with your peers and see what’s new in the Fulton County Family Division.

Of course, leaving such a decision to the states sounds like the old republican refrain (states’ rights) but on this issue, the last republican president sought a national plan. It certainly makes for interesting politics and it seems, like with many other issues of our, and our predecessors’ times, that society is moving ahead of the law. Same sex marriage is becoming more widely accepted and the law is following, albeit not everywhere (such as North Carolina).

Still the legal issues remain complicated and interesting. How do you resolve custody disputes between two gay men? How do you divide property, assets, real estate between a gay couple who separates? We can clog up our court system and make them file a separate lawsuit for each issue, or we could allow them to divorce, and to make use of the system already in place for heterosexual couples who break up, and that is the divorce process.

Additionally, my article “The Hague Convention: Application and Analysis to Child Custody Issues” closely examines how this act will affect future child abduction cases.

“In considering whether the health or welfare of the child would be harmed without such visitation, the court shall consider and may find that harm to the child is reasonably likely to result where, prior to the original action or intervention:

(A) The minor child resided with the grandparent for six months or more;

(B) The grandparent provided financial support for the basic needs of the child for at least one year;

The Court overturned the trial court’s ruling that Georgia had personal jurisdiction over nonresident Wife, noting that the minimum contacts requirements of the long arm statute (OCGA § 9-10-91(5)) had not been satisfied, and that Wife had not conducted any business nor did she have any recent, significant ties to the state.

However, the Court found that a Georgia court does not need personal jurisdiction over the nonresident Wife to simply grant the divorce. Pursuant to OCGA  § 19-5-2, resident Husband was entitled to dissolve the marriage in a Georgia court so long as he had lived in the state for at least six months. If the residency requirement is met, the Georgia trial court has jurisdiction to grant the divorce.

Mother filed her modification petition in Cherokee County on October 17, 2008, and Father was served October 24. Father had decided in September to move from Cherokee to Cobb County, but did not physically move until October 21. The trial court ruled, and the Supreme Court agreed, that Father was still a resident of Cherokee until his physical presence actually changed counties on October 21, and so long as the petition was filed before then, venue was appropriate.

Father also argued that the trial court improperly awarded attorneys’ fees to Mother, because the final order did not state a statutory basis for the award. The Court found that the trial court’s order on attorneys’ fees in fact contained language set forth in both OCGA § 19-9-3(g) and OCGA § 19-6-2(a)(2). Previously, Georgia law limited the application of § 19-9-3(g) only to actions covered by § 19-6-2(a)(2). Harris v. Williams, 304 Ga. App. 390 (2010). However, the Supreme Court ruled that to the extent that Harris v. Williams held that § 19-9-3(g) did not authorize an award for attorneys’ fees in an action seeking modification of child custody, it is now overruled. Finally, the Court held that because Mother’s petition fell within the parameters of § 19-9-3(g), the case did not need to be remanded for clarification of the statutory basis of the award.

How do we prevent the abuse of children? Knowledge, action and awareness. This program will educate and illuminate this terrible blight on mankind. No child should be abused, and anything that can be done to reduce the odds of it happening to any child is worth doing. This seminar is but a small piece of the answer, but it may be a start. Please consider attending and learning and sharing your insights. And let’s all work together to eliminate this problem (which is an understatement of the issue).

The brochure is being mailed out soon, but here is the registration form. Please sign up and tell your colleagues. I look forward to seeing you in the sun.