Court Opinion

ID: 9604651
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:25:12.15663+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:26.986674
License: Public Domain

Hill, Justice,
concurring.
The opinion of the court verifies that over the years this court has recognized the doctrine of equitable division of property in numerous cases. This is not surprising because “ ‘Proceedings for a divorce and for alimony have always, under the practice in this state, been regarded as equitable.’ ” Gorman v. Gorman, 239 Ga. 312, 314 *772(236 SE2d 652) (1977), and cases cited.
The doctrine is used in several counties; e.g., Gwinnett (where this case arose); Douglas (see Foster v. Foster, Ga. S. C. Application No. 1311); Fulton (see Bowman v. Bowman, Ga. S. C. Application No. 1320), and presumably throughout the judicial circuits in which those counties are located.
However, the jury instructions used for equitable division of property do not appear to be uniform and in some instances are not fully developed. Although the majority is understandably reluctant to undertake to set forth in this opinion an acceptable charge as to equitable division of property, I am not prevented from so doing in this concurring opinion. My view follows:
In a suit for permanent alimony incident to divorce or legal separation, the court or jury shall:
(1) Assign each spouse’s real and personal property and assets at the time of the marriage, or inherited during the marriage, to that spouse.
(2) Equitably apportion between the parties the real and personal property and assets acquired during the marriage whether the title thereto is in the name of one spouse or both. (If necessary to an equitable apportionment, real property may be partitioned.) In making this apportionment, the court or jury shall consider the duration of the marriage, and any prior marriage of either party; the age, health, occupation, vocational skills, and employability of each party, as well as the contribution or service of each spouse to the family unit; the amount and sources of income, estate (see (1) above), debts, liabilities and needs of each of the parties, as well as debts against property; and whether the apportionment is in lieu of or in addition to permanent alimony (see (3) below) and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of assets and income by employment or otherwise.
(3) Provide permanent alimony, if it sees fit to do so, to one party in accordance with the needs of that party and the ability of the other party to pay, either from future earnings or the corpus of the estate whether acquired before or during the marriage (see (1) and (2) above), according to the condition of both parties, their separate estates, earning capacities, needs and fixed liabilities. (See Code §§ 30-201, 30-209 as amended.)
Let me explain that paragraph (1), above, is an adaptation of Code § 53-502, as enacted and as amended, and relates to the “separate property” of the parties; paragraph (2) relates to the equitable division of the property identified as the “marriage property” and implements Code §§ 30-105; 30-118; and paragraph (3) relates to permanent alimony and comes from the Code sections *773cited. In my view, the jury should first identify the “separate property” (paragraph 1) and allocate it to the proper party (one share to the husband, if any, and one share to the wife, if any). Next, the jury should equitably distribute the remaining property, the “marriage property,” on the basis of the equitable principles stated in paragraph (2), to the appropriate recipient (one share to each spouse added to the “separate property” shares previously set apart). Finally (paragraph 3), as has been the case in the past, the jury should determine, according to the statutory formula (the needs of one and the ability of the other), if one party is entitled to an award of permanent alimony from the future earnings of the other spouse, or from the estate (the “separate property” or “marriage property” previously set apart) of the other spouse.
As I see it, the procedure employed in some superior courts has been to focus the jury’s attention first and foremost on permanent alimony, and to allow the jury to equitably apportion the property of the parties (separate as well as marriage) as part of and incident to the permanent alimony award. In my view, separating the components of the permanent alimony award into a three step, sequential procedure will be an improvement over the practice of treating everything the wife or husband receives as alimony.