Modification and Enforcement

Georgia Modification and Enforcement Attorney

When your situation changes after your divorce, or if your former spouse fails to abide by the divorce decree, you may want to consider modification or enforcement of your divorce decree.

At the law office of Jody A. Miller, located in Atlanta, Georgia, we represent clients in bringing and defending modification and enforcement proceedings. We understand that circumstances change and you may need help after a divorce is finalized. If you have a question about the modification and enforcement of a divorce order, contact us to schedule an appointment.

Alimony, Child Support, and Child Custody Modification

A family's situation continues to change even after a divorce. A court may modify an award for alimony, child support, and child custody and visitation to correspond with these changes. Here are a few issues related to the modification of a divorce decree:

• Child support: A court may modify child support if a party can show that there has been a substantial change in the financial circumstances of a parent or in the needs of a child.
• Child custody and visitation: Child custody and visitation is never permanent. A court can always modify parental child custody and visitation if it finds that modification is in the child's best interest. A judge may modify a visitation order if it is in the best interest of the child to modify visitation based on those changed circumstances.
• Alimony: A court may modify the amount of monthly, periodic alimony. Neither the duration of alimony nor an award of lump sum alimony is modifiable.

Monetary and Nonmonetary Enforcement

When your ex-spouse fails to abide by the terms of a divorce decree, you can petition the court for help. When adjudicating alimony and child support enforcement actions, the court must find that a party knowingly and willfully disregarded a court order or agreement. If a party is found guilty of contempt, a court may place the ex-spouse in jail until they comply with the order. Other options include garnishment of wages. If a court finds that a party has denied parental visitation rights to a party, some remedies the court may consider are ordering the offending parent to anger management or parenting classes or a make up of the missed visitation.

Our firm represents and defends parties in modification and enforcement actions. To learn more about this process, contact us at the law office of Jody A. Miller. We represent clients throughout Georgia, including locations such as Lawrenceville, Jonesboro, and Marietta.