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Jason S. Williamsv.Stephanie Williams

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A21A1552
DecidedMarch 2, 2022
Reporter361 Ga. App. 499
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CivilFamily LawCivil ProcedureAppellate ProcedureChild CustodyReversalRemand
Case Summary

After a seventeen-year marriage and a bench trial, the trial court awarded Stephanie Williams primary physical custody of the parties’ four children, monthly child support, monthly alimony, a percentage of Jason Williams’s annual bonus, the parties’ credit-card travel points, and attorney fees. The Court of Appeals of Georgia addressed two consolidated discretionary appeals. It held that the child-support award could not stand because the trial court deviated from the statutory guidelines without making the required findings or attaching the child-support worksheets. The court affirmed the alimony award and the equitable division of the travel points, rejecting the remaining challenges to those rulings. In the separate fee appeal, the court vacated the award under OCGA § 9-15-14 (b). The record did not adequately establish the legal work, reasonableness, or litigation-related nature of the claimed fees and expenses, and some charges predated the litigation or lacked competent supporting testimony. The cases were remanded for findings consistent with the opinion.

Opinion

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