How Georgia handles alimony — and the adultery bar
Georgia law calls it "alimony," and like several other states, it sets no percentage-based formula for calculating an award. But Georgia stands apart from Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, and Michigan in one critical way: it is one of a small number of states with an absolute, statute-based bar tied directly to marital misconduct. Anyone estimating Georgia alimony without accounting for that bar is missing the single most consequential rule in the state's alimony law.
Start with the baseline framework. OCGA §19-6-5 lists the factors a Georgia court weighs when setting the amount and duration of alimony: the standard of living established during the marriage; the duration of the marriage; the age and physical and emotional condition of both parties; the financial resources of each party; the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment; the contribution of each party to the marriage, including homemaking, childcare, and education or career-building for the other party; the condition of the parties, including each spouse's separate estate, earning capacity, and fixed liabilities; and a final catch-all for any other factor the court deems equitable under the circumstances. None of these eight factors involves a formula or percentage — a Georgia judge weighs them holistically and arrives at a number and term through discretion, informed heavily by marriage duration among the listed factors.
Now the bar. OCGA §19-6-1 provides that if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the parties' separation was caused by the adultery or desertion of the spouse who is requesting alimony, that spouse is barred entirely from receiving it. This is not one factor among several to be weighed against the others — it is a complete, threshold bar. Once both elements are proven — the misconduct itself, and that the misconduct caused the separation — the alimony analysis stops there for the requesting spouse; the §19-6-5 factors never come into play. One nuance worth flagging: an affair that begins only after the spouses have already decided to separate generally does not trigger the bar, because it did not cause the separation in the first place. The causation link is what makes the bar apply, not simply the existence of an affair at some point during the marriage.
There is no minimum marriage-length threshold for alimony eligibility itself in Georgia — a short marriage doesn't automatically disqualify a spouse. The §19-6-1 adultery/desertion bar functions as the real hard eligibility gate in Georgia law, doing more work than a marriage-length cutoff would in a state like Texas. Because the bar is proven by a preponderance of the evidence — the same standard used throughout Georgia civil litigation, a lower bar than "beyond a reasonable doubt" — it is realistic for the issue to be contested and litigated on its own before the §19-6-5 factors are ever reached.
No recent (2023–2026) statutory change to either OCGA §19-6-1 or §19-6-5 was identified in this research — the adultery/desertion bar framework is longstanding Georgia law and remains current for 2026 filings. If your case involves any allegation of adultery or desertion tied to the separation, that single issue is likely to matter more to your outcome than any income-based estimate, including the one above. Statute citations: OCGA §19-6-1 (alimony definition and adultery/desertion bar); OCGA §19-6-5 (factors).
Primary source: read the official Georgia statute text →
Frequently Asked Questions
Does adultery bar alimony in Georgia?
Yes. Under OCGA §19-6-1, if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the separation was caused by the requesting spouse's adultery or desertion, that spouse is completely barred from receiving alimony. This is not a discretionary weighing factor — it is a full bar when both misconduct and causation of the separation are proven.
Does Georgia have an alimony formula?
No. Georgia has no percentage-based alimony formula. Courts weigh the factors in OCGA §19-6-5, including standard of living, marriage duration, age and health, financial resources, time needed to gain education or training, each spouse's contributions to the marriage, and each party's separate estate and earning capacity.
What if the affair started after we already separated?
Under Georgia law, the §19-6-1 bar applies when adultery or desertion caused the separation. An affair beginning after the parties had already decided to separate generally does not trigger the bar.
Is this Georgia alimony calculator legal advice?
No. It's a non-statutory educational estimate, and the adultery/desertion bar outcome in a real case depends on evidence and causation that only a Georgia family-law attorney can evaluate.