A separate maintenance case is an equity case, and that gives the court tools beyond ordering payments.
What the Statute Allows
OCGA 19-6-10 says the judge may grant the same orders available in a divorce, “to be enforced in the same manner, together with any other remedy applicable in equity, such as appointing a receiver and the like.”
Appointing a receiver is the example the statute gives, not the limit. Restraining orders and injunctions are available in a separate maintenance action the same as in a divorce.
Reaching Property That Was Given Away
The most consequential equitable remedy is the power to undo a transfer made to defeat your claim.
Von Kamp v. Gary, 204 Ga. 875 (1949), is the case. Days after separating from his wife of nearly fifty-seven years, a husband deeded away Augusta real estate worth roughly $250,000 that generated about $10,000 a year in rent, giving it to two other people as a gift. Around the same day he withdrew more than $10,000 in cash from his bank and handed it to the same people. He then published a newspaper notice disclaiming responsibility for anyone’s bills but his own.
His wife sued for alimony and asked the court to cancel the deed. The trial court dismissed her claim against the two grantees. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, holding her petition “stated a cause of action.”
He Kept Plenty, and It Did Not Matter
The grantees argued the transfer could not have been meant to defraud her because the husband still held around $150,000 in other property. The Court rejected that, holding those allegations “did not conclusively and as a matter of law rebut” her claim that he acted with intent to delay and defraud her.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!