What is a Divorce?

Marriage is a legal status. A legal status is a means of classifying people and conferring certain benefits and responsibilities upon them. We recognize many different legal statuses in Georgia. “Minor” is a legal status generally for those persons under the age of eighteen. “Emancipated” or “sui juris” — generally over 18 and able to legally contract — are opposite legal statuses to minority. Similarly, “married” is a legal status tying one individual to another and providing a means of attaching legal responsibility for children born from the marriage.

Married people are treated differently for tax purposes than unmarried people. A married couple can file a joint tax return and enjoy a generally lower tax responsibility than those who file “single” status. Property rights are also affected by the legal status of marriage. Generally, property rights are determined mostly by “title,” or whose name is attached to the property. But, when one is married, a person can acquire legal property rights in her spouse’s property without having her name attached to it. A married person can inherit from a spouse, even if that spouse doesn’t have a will. The property rights and tax benefits of marriage are significant reasons the issue of gay marriage was so important and divisive. Without the protections of marriage, couples in a gay or lesbian relationship were excluded from the legal status’s many benefits.

Divorce, then, is a legal process for dissolving the legal status and severing the legal ties between spouses. Divorce provides a means for dividing up marital property and providing for the support and custody of children outside the protections of marriage. Children are legally and constitutionally entitled to be supported by both parents, and divorce is one legal means of establishing that support. In a divorce, a spouse can obtain property not in her name because of the protections of marriage. Divorce allows division of retirement plans, bank accounts, and real estate. Post-divorce, either former spouse can remarry. Generally, a divorced spouse gives up any legal entitlement to inherit from the other spouse. The parties are no longer legally joined.

Georgia provides for “no-fault” divorce, meaning that either spouse can obtain a divorce for any reason; one does not have to prove misconduct by the other spouse to sever the legal relationship. To obtain a

Read more about no fault divorce and the other grounds for divorce.