I just received a letter stating I need to turn over possession of my residence on or by July 15th. I am still married but separated from my husband of 9 years. We have 2 minor children. He was removed from the home in Dec of 2006 for a domestic violence charge and pled guilty. There is to be no verbal communication between him and I for 1 year after his court date last October under the stipulation he completes all classes ordered by the judge. I live in Gwinnett County Georgia and he lives in Gilmer County Georgia now. He was paying the house payment in lieu of child support. He has stopped calling the boys and hence the pending eviction I assume he has stopped paying for the house. Do I file for abandonment on July 2nd, which would be 31 days of nonpayment on the house, which has caused us to be displaced with nowhere to go in a short amount of time? He has given me no monetary support for the children, other than the house payment and now he has stopped that? Any ideas where to turn?

I would start looking for a place to live. I say this because by the time you file and actually get a court date it will be past the 15th. Now while you may be albe to buy yourself a cople extra weeks past that because of how long it can take an eveiction to finish, the bank isn't new at this and neither are their lawers. Also while Georgia does have abandomnent laws filing dosen't generally get you enough money to pay off the bank to bring you back to current. Was there a child support order in place by the court or was the house payment just an informal agreement between the two of you?

Where did you get the idea that abandonment applies here? Abandonment applies in two situations. First, when a minor child is left totally unattended, like sitting in a car all alone. This type of abandonment is a criminal offense. The second is when one spouse has totally disappeared leaving the other and any children , alone. This type can be used as grounds in a divorce or custoday battle, but is not a charge in itself.

So neither situation seems to apply to you. You know where he is, so even if there is no contact, he hasn't disappeared. What you need to do is file a petition in Family Court to enforce the court order that he pay for your housing. You need to do this immediately requesting a stay of the eviction order until that issue can be resolved.

Obviously, yes I will be finding a new place for the kids and I to live. There was no child support awarded, that was just an understanding between the two of us. He makes over 100K ( or at least he was last year ) and he was coming out okay by just paying the house payment. The court date last year was for nothing other than the abuse charges filed by the State of Georgia. I just don't know legally what to do next. I wonder if I go through Child Support Enforcement or just go straight to divorce court. In the meantime, I feel he needs to be paying child support and a divorce from him could take forever.

Scott, that helps. I may have been using the wrong term as far as abandonment goes. I will go through the Family Court and see what happens. Thank you.

Well the bigger problem is that you can't go to child support enforcement if there hasn't been an order for child support. You can try using abandonment as grounds for a divorce and when you are in court for the divorce the judge will also put in an order for support and one for visitation. Are you legally separated? If not that too can prevent any claim for support you have. So the first step is to go to court for your divorce and get a child support order because until that paper is signed by the judge he dosen't have to pay.

Do not leave your home, yet. "Abandonment" is correct in Georgia: "(c) The offense of abandonment is a continuing offense. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Code section, former acquittal or conviction of the offense shall not be a bar to further prosecution therefor under this Code section, if it is made to appear that the child in question was in a dependent condition, as defined in this Code section, for a period of 30 days prior to the commencement of prosecution." See: Child abandonment in Georgia; what does it mean? The criminal side, "Criminal Non-Support (Abandonment Warrant) Child abandonment is a misdemeanor offense in Georgia with a penalty of a $1,000 fine or up to 12 months in prison, when a parent has failed to provide sufficient food clothing, or shelter for the needs of the child for 30 days. (O.C.G.A sec. 19-10-1)."
Contact the Gwinnett County sheriff's office and ask how to contact a magistrate. Have him locked up.

While I'm not disagreeing with George because he is right, the bank still wants their money and having him locked up will not get them the money they are due. I agree that he should be penalized including jail time but that will only buy a certain amount of time with an eviction.

While I'm not disagreeing with George because he is right, the bank still wants their money and having him locked up will not get them the money they are due. I agree that he should be penalized including jail time but that will only buy a certain amount of time with an eviction.
You are right; but the sound of that door shutting has led to deadbeat dads finding piles of cash in a hurry, from employers, friends, and family.

You NEED an attorney, IMMEDIATELY. If you are working off a word of mouth agreement, then you are shortchanging yourself. An attorney may be able get you an emergency order for temporary support.

First stop making of court agreements, that will only come back to bite you. If the court orders him to pay so many dollars a month, get that as a garnishment of his paycheck though the court.

GA does not allow you to take away his rights not visiting, nor does non paymnet allow you the ablity to take away his rights, so besides taking him back to court for non payment of support, that is about all you can do at this point and time

Also do you owe the home ( making paymnets) or are you renting,

In your county they don't, really don't want to foreclose on homes if they can work any type of deal what so ever. There are is over 300 foreclosed homes being sold this weekend for pennies on the dollar in just one area of Atlanta. So if this is not a rental, there may be ways to save the home

You have several issues here. 1) and primary issue is child support. 2) house is in foreclosure ?

If its in a state of foreclosure then he hasn't paid for a lot longer then 30 days. Also who's name is on the house.
As far as getting suport you can go to the state but it may take 90 days to get anything official and you might be on state aid for a short period.
Like scott said get a decent lawyer quick.

Do not leave your home, yet. "Abandonment" is correct in Georgia: "(c) The offense of abandonment is a continuing offense. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Code section, former acquittal or conviction of the offense shall not be a bar to further prosecution therefor under this Code section, if it is made to appear that the child in question was in a dependent condition, as defined in this Code section, for a period of 30 days prior to the commencement of prosecution." See: Child abandonment in Georgia; what does it mean? The criminal side, "Criminal Non-Support (Abandonment Warrant) Child abandonment is a misdemeanor offense in Georgia with a penalty of a $1,000 fine or up to 12 months in prison, when a parent has failed to provide sufficient food clothing, or shelter for the needs of the child for 30 days. (O.C.G.A sec. 19-10-1)."
Contact the Gwinnett County sheriff's office and ask how to contact a magistrate. Have him locked up.


I don't think this applies - the father left the residence upon Police - or Court order, left the children with the mother and has provided for the children (with the consent of the mother) by paying the rent/mortgage/whatever.

I think the Magistrate would ask about a Court Order - he's been out of the house since December 2006 with no Court action for support ever.

I'm not saying the father is morally or ethically right but I don't think he's abandoned the children. The mother has a duty to protect the children, provide for them, by taking the father to Court, getting Court-ordered support, and she has not done so.

I don't see she has a choice when it comes to leaving the property - she can either pay the arrearages and the ongoing rent or leave. At the moment, without talking the landlord or mortgage company this is all guessing on everyone's part.

There is always a possibility that Family Court (or whoever handles these matters) will hold an emergency hearing to stop the eviction but that's not a given.

If the Court arrests the father and puts him in jail - then she's guaranteed he won't pay support.

Oh yes, this applies. Is your home a rental or purchase? When was the last date the father made a house payment? You should know that or be able to find out easily. On the 31st day, see your magistrate; here is a bit more of the code section; this is Georgia law and it may be unique in the U.S.:
"§ 19-10-1. Abandonment of dependent child; criminal penalties; continuing offense; venue; blood tests or other comparisons as evidence; payment of expenses of birth of child born out of wedlock; agreement for support of child born out of wedlock


(a) A child abandoned by its father or mother shall be considered to be in a dependent condition when the father or mother does not furnish sufficient food, clothing, or shelter for the needs of the child.

(b) If any father or mother willfully and voluntarily abandons his or her child, either legitimate or born out of wedlock, leaving it in a dependent condition, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor…Any person, upon conviction of the third offense for violating this Code section, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for not less than one nor more than three years, which felony shall not be reducible to a misdemeanor. The husband and wife shall be competent witnesses in such cases to testify for or against the other.

(c) The offense of abandonment is a continuing offense. Except as provided in subsection (i) of this Code section, former acquittal or conviction of the offense shall not be a bar to further prosecution therefor under this Code section, if it is made to appear that the child in question was in a dependent condition, as defined in this Code section, for a period of 30 days prior to the commencement of prosecution."
Good luck!