Alimony or Palimony?

The extent of alimony in Georgia is ill-defined and relies wholly upon the trial judge. Georgia Courts are "given a wide latitude in fixing the amount of alimony. . . and to this end they are to use their experience as enlightened persons in judging the amount necessary..." Arkwright v. Arkwright, 284 Ga. 545, 546 (2008).

This creates a challenge when advising clients what to expect in the way of alimony. In theory, the statute sets for some criteria to be considered by the court, including -

(1) The standard of living established during the marriage;
(2) The duration of the marriage;
(3) The age and the physical and emotional condition of both parties;
(4) The financial resources of each party;
(5) Where applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable him to find appropriate employment;
(6) The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party;
(7) The condition of the parties, including the separate estate, earning capacity, and fixed liabilities of the parties; and
(8) Such other relevant factors as the court deems equitable and proper.

In practice, it is hard to tell which, if any, of these factors are important, and the last factor can eclipse everything else. There are a number of "rules of thumb" tossed about, depending on the county and the judge, such as 20% of income for a time equal to 1 year for each 3 years of marriage. But there are no hard guides and litigants can encounter some surprising results.

Consider Sprouse v. Sprouse, S09F0709, handed down by the Georgia Supreme Court June 6th of this year. The Supreme Court upheld a grant of 13 years of alimony, based on a marriage of 2 years duration. That would be 6.5 years of alimony for each year of the marriage. While the result is surprising, the rationale is even more so. The trial judge determined that since the length of the relationship of the parties was 13 years, that 13 years of alimony was reasonable. The parties had shared a common law relationship in Alabama before moving to Georgia to get married. Georgia does not recognize so-called "palimony" and the Supreme Court recognized that. Nevertheless, the court reasoned that the length of the entire relationship "including periods of premarital cohabitation" could be considered. This seems to call into question Georgia's proscription against palimony. It also seems to disregard the statutory language regarding the "duration of the marriage" since a marriage, by definition, can't include pre-marital periods.

It may be that Sprouse will be confined to its facts, but there is no limiting language in the case. For now, it seem the court has given a green light to consideration of pre-marital cohabitation. That being the case, can true palimony be far behind???