• Uncontested Divorces
• Contested Divorce
• Mediation
• Child Support
• Alimony / Spousal Support
• Child Support Modification
• Parenting Plans
• Child Custody / Visitation Modification
• Contempt Actions
• Separation of Marital Property
• Paternity / Legitimation
• Prenuptial Agreements
• Guardian Ad Litem

When you are ready to obtain the peace of a final divorce, but are unable to come to an agreement on custody, visitation, child support, alimony and division of property you must file a contested divorce.  The attorneys at the Millard Law Firm are aggressive and experienced attorneys that can provide the quality representation you will need to quickly and effectively resolve your divorce.  When you are facing the trauma of a contested divorce, it is imperative you select an attorney whom you not only trust, but whom you are confident will be able to competently represent you.  You will want to hire an attorney that not only knows the latest Georgia family law, but has also argued such law before the Judge deciding your case and is familiar with how that Judge will interpret the law.  Whether your case will be before a Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth, Cherokee, Hall, Gwinnett, or Clayton County or other Atlanta metro area Judge, the Millard Law Firm has the experience to accurately advise you whether to settle or allow the Court to decide an issue.

The first step to proceeding with a contested divorce is filing a Complaint for Divorce that requests all forms of relief and protects your rights to custody, visitation, division of property, alimony and/or child support.  The Millard Law Firm carefully crafts the Complaint to ensure all your rights are protected and all possible forms of relief are requested.  Once the Complaint for Divorce is filed, it must be served.  Typically, we will serve an opposing party by private process server, rather than having a sheriff’s deputy appear at your spouse’s work or home.  We have found that this approach keeps the lines of communication open and helps the parties continue to work toward an amicable resolution.  If you have been served with a Complaint for Divorce, whether by sheriff or private process server, it is imperative you contact an attorney as soon as possible to preserve your rights to division of property and/or alimony. 

Once the complaint has been served, the next step to a contested divorce is the discovery process.  During the discovery process, each party is permitted to serve Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents.  Interrogatories are written questions that request information regarding the parties’ income, debt, marital history, abuse issues and various other matters.  Requests for Production of Documents are written requests that the opposing party produce documents relating to similar issues.  These requests can seem intrusive, but each party is given wide latitude in pursuing the issues related to a parties’ divorce.  In addition to written requests, each party is also allowed to take a deposition of the parties and any witnesses.  At a deposition, the parties are permitted to ask questions of the person being deposed and everything said during the deposition is recorded by a court reporter.  The recorded testimony is later used at trial.  A deposition is a useful tool to prepare for a hearing, but can be time consuming and costly.  It is important to retain an attorney that will help you decide when, if at all, a deposition is necessary.  The discovery process can be long and expensive.  An experienced and skilled attorney will be able to advise you in a way to navigate the discovery process in the most effective and efficient manner possible.  Whether the discovery process lasts a couple of weeks or several months depends on whether the parties are interested in settling, the complexity of the parties’ financial circumstances, or the depth of issues related to child custody, support and visitation.

The discovery process can last several months and occasionally well over a year.  For that reason, Georgia law allows the parties to appear before the court for a temporary hearing.  A temporary hearing is a hearing typically held within a few months of filing for divorce.  The temporary hearing allows the court to decide temporary issues such as temporary custody, visitation, child support, alimony, payment of the marital bills, and use of the parties’ property throughout of the divorce.  A temporary hearing does not finalize the divorce, but the Millard Law Firm’s philosophy is to prepare for a temporary hearing as if it were your final hearing.  A temporary hearing will allow you to present the facts of your case to the Court and to obtain the Court’s impression of those facts.  Therefore, it is important that you are prepared, organized and capable of presenting all the relevant facts.

In many counties, the parties are required to attend mediation or attempt to resolve their dispute either before or after the temporary hearing.  In the event the parties are not able to come to a complete settlement agreement, however, the parties must attend a final hearing.  A final hearing will resolve all remaining custody, visitation, child support, alimony and division of property issues.  It is each parties’ last chance to show the Judge or jury each fact they feel is relevant and why they feel they are entitled to the relief they are seeking.