Kingsland, GA Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

Not exactly. He should be given credit for the value of the property at the time you were married as his separate property. To the extent that payments were made towards the home or improvements were paid for during the term of your marriage, you should be entitled to reimbursement for community property (your combined income during marriage) being spent on a separate property asset (the house). Frequently, a settlement is reached by figuring out the current value, subtracting out any mortgage remaining (which leaves the estimated equity in the home), and subtracting out again an estimated value for the equity at the time of the marriage.

You are entitled to your community property share of the assets. This would include any retirement accounts earned during the marriage. You may also have a claim for alimony, child support, etc. With the length of marriage it may be best to consult with a divorce attorney.

There are only two obvious reasons the judge would order you to pay more than you have in total income: either he believes you are lying about your real income or you failed to adequately show him the true facts. It seems highly unlikely the judge would have made his rulings without giving you some explanation so perhaps you need to reexamine the written order or get a transcript of the hearing where the rulings were announced. If you are certain he had all the correct financial information and yet still ruled that you had to pay more than your total income, your only potential remedy is to appeal his ruling to the appropriate appeals court. Because there are time deadlines for filing an appeal, you need to quickly consult an attorney in the city where the court is located to find out what your options are.