See below for a story illustrating the importance of a well drafted prenuptial agreement. Read More

As many sports fans may already know, Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angles Dodgers is currently in the midst of a nasty divorce in California. At the heart of the divorce is the control of the Dodgers baseball franchise — that is whether the team is owned solely by Frank McCourt or jointly by him and his former wife, Jamie. Pivotal to the case is the effect of a clerical error that occurred when the parties in 2004 signed a post-nuptial agreement.

Specifically, Frank McCourt’s lawyer made a typo relating to the ownership of the Dodgers when he was preparing the post-nuptial agreement. Complicating the case: there are six different copies of the key document, and three of them were signed at a different time than the other three. Three of the documents use the word “exclusive,” while three use the word “inclusive.” The entire case could end up coming down to those two words, which appear to be a mistake on the part of the attorney.

This again highlights the importance of hiring an experienced attorney in assisting you in drafting prenuptial or postnutpial agreements because any error could prove extremely costly.

As of January 1, 2008, O.C.G.A. § 19-9-1 requires a Georgia Parenting Plan in all cases involving Georgia child custody, except in emergencies or cases of domestic violence. The Georgia Parenting Plan lays out the details child custody and visitation in Georgia. The Parenting Plan includes items such as where the child will spend each day of the year, how holidays will be spent and transportation arrangements for exchanging the child. It also leaves room for parties to tailor their Georgia Parenting Plan to fit their lifestyle. The Parenting Plan will be incorporated into the final order in your case, so it is important that it accurately reflects how custody and visitation will work. Every family is different and our attorneys at McCartney & Kan can help you craft a Georgia Parenting Plan that will work for your family. An example of a Georgia Parenting Plan can be found at http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/dekalbflic/Forms.htm.

When parties of a divorce have children, custody and visitation inevitably become an issue. Child visitation in Georgia may also become an issue in an action for legitimation. As with most issues involving children, child visitation in Georgia is determined using the best interest of the child standard. The court has broad discretion in establishing child visitation. If the parties agree to a visitation schedule, as they are encouraged to do under the new Georgia Parenting Plan requirements, the court will adopt the agreement and incorporate it into the final order if it finds the agreement to be in the best interest of the child or children involved.

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A prenuptial agreement in Georgia is a contract between two adults who intend to marry that sets out what would happen in the event of a divorce. It is basically a divorce settlement agreement entered into prior to marriage. One of the primary reasons to consider entering into a GA prenuptial agreement is the protection of assets. A Georgia prenuptial agreement drafted by a skilled Atlanta family law attorney will set forth with certainty what will happen to each party’s assets in the event of divorce. This can avoid costly and painful issues down the road. If you have substantial assets like a house, an investment account or an ownership interest in a company, you should contact an Atlanta family law attorney about whether a prenuptial agreement may be in your best interest.

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