When problems at home affect the people and parts of your life you care about most, finding a clear path forward can feel overwhelming. Our lawyers can help you understand your rights under Georgia law and make informed decisions about what comes next. 

At Cordell & Cordell, we represent clients in Alpharetta, throughout North Fulton, and the Greater Atlanta Metro in divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, property division, modifications, contempt proceedings, and other domestic relations matters. We protect our clients’ rights and provide clear guidance through situations with long-lasting consequences.

Our office is located at 12600 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 100, near Windward and Deerfield. You can schedule a consultation online or by calling (943) 202-1328.

What Do Our Alpharetta Family Law Attorneys Do?

Family law cases rarely involve only one issue. A divorce can raise questions about property, alimony, custody, and support at the same time. A custody dispute can later lead to modification or enforcement proceedings as a family’s circumstances change.

Our attorneys can help with matters involving:

• Divorce and collaborative divorce
• Child custody and parenting plans
• Child support
• Spousal support and alimony
• Property and asset division
• Modification of existing orders
• Contempt and enforcement proceedings
• Paternity and legitimation
• Prenuptial agreements
• Appeals
• Protection orders

Our lawyers can identify the issues affecting your case, explain the Georgia laws that apply, and help you develop an approach based on your priorities.

Why Work With Our Attorneys?

Hiring a family law attorney is not simply about having someone prepare court documents. The decisions made during a case can affect where you live, how you spend time with your children, your financial obligations, and your finances after the case ends.

When you work with our attorneys, we can:

• Identify the legal, financial, and parenting issues affecting your case
• Explain Georgia law and applicable local court procedures
• Help gather and organize relevant financial records and other evidence
• Prepare filings, proposed parenting arrangements, and other case documents
• Evaluate and negotiate proposed settlements
• Prepare for hearings when court intervention is necessary
• Address modification and enforcement issues after an order is entered

Attorney Kevin M. Mammola runs our Alpharetta office. He is our Litigation Partner and a member of the Cordell Appellate Practice Division. His background includes domestic relations practice, work involving child-support establishment and enforcement, and service as a Fulton County Special Assistant Attorney General. 

Mr. Mammola also serves as a volunteer guardian ad litem in contested Fulton County matters involving custody, visitation, and legitimation. He is admitted to practice before Georgia’s Superior Courts, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court.

Mr. Mammola’s local experience is complemented by the resources and experiences of Cordell & Cordell’s broader practice. Our attorneys can help you understand how Georgia law applies to your circumstances, weigh your options, and develop a strategy focused on protecting your rights and priorities. 

If you are facing a divorce, custody dispute, support issue, or another legal concern, talk with our team about how we can help.

Where Are Alpharetta Family Law Cases Handled?

The Superior Court of Fulton County is the primary venue for many local family law matters. The court’s Family Division has jurisdiction over divorce, separation, annulment, custody and visitation, child support, contempt, modification, paternity, adoption, termination of parental rights, and domestic violence matters. 

How Do Our Lawyers Help With Divorce in Alpharetta?

Divorce legally ends a marriage, but the process can require spouses to resolve several related issues. Depending on your circumstances, those can include:

• Division of marital property and debts
• Child custody and parenting time
• Child support
• Alimony
• The marital home
• Retirement accounts
• Business interests

When appropriate, spouses can resolve some or all issues through negotiation, mediation, collaborative approaches, or other agreements. If divorce is becoming a possibility, our attorneys can help you understand the decisions ahead before you commit to a particular course of action.

Throughout your family law situation, our divorce lawyers can explain the Georgia divorce process, including grounds, residency requirements, and divorce-specific financial issues. We also handle the appeals process if review by a higher court is appropriate. Call us today to discuss your unique circumstances.

How Is Child Custody Determined in Georgia?

Georgia courts decide custody by applying the best interests of the child standards. The analysis involves multiple statutory considerations rather than an automatic preference based on one parent’s gender.

Custody includes two related concepts. Legal custody concerns authority over major decisions affecting the child, such as education, healthcare, extracurricular activities, and religious upbringing. Physical custody concerns the child’s residence and the parenting schedule.

Georgia also requires a parenting plan in cases involving permanent custody and custody modifications. State law requires that the plan address where and when the child will be in each parent’s physical care, as well as other practical parenting responsibilities. The Georgia Child Support Commission provides the statutory parenting-plan requirements under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-1.

Our child custody lawyers can help you develop proposed parenting arrangements, evaluate the other parent’s proposal, gather evidence relevant to custody, and present your position during negotiations or court proceedings.

How Does Child Support Work in Alpharetta?

Georgia uses statewide child-support guidelines, so Alpharetta cases follow the same statutory framework as in the rest of the state. Child support calculations consider both parents’ incomes and other factors required by Georgia law. 

Depending on the case, questions can arise involving health insurance, childcare expenses, parenting time, bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, or whether a deviation from the guideline calculation is appropriate. A child-support worksheet is an important part of the process, but a calculation is only as reliable as the financial information used.

Our child support lawyers can review income information, identify issues affecting the calculation, prepare or evaluate support worksheets, and advocate for an appropriate support determination.

Can Alimony Be Awarded in an Alpharetta Divorce?

Georgia courts can award alimony in appropriate divorce cases, but support is not automatic simply because one spouse earns more than the other. Unlike child support, Georgia does not use a single statewide formula for calculating alimony. Courts consider statutory factors involving the marriage and the spouses’ financial circumstances.

Relevant issues can include the duration of the marriage, the standard of living established during the marriage, each party’s financial resources, contributions to the marriage, and each spouse’s circumstances.

Our spousal support attorneys can help clients requesting or opposing alimony gather relevant financial information, evaluate proposed support arrangements, and address alimony as part of the broader financial terms of a divorce.

How Is Property Divided in a Georgia Family Law Case?

Georgia follows equitable division principles for marital property. Equitable does not necessarily mean every asset and debt will be divided equally.

An important initial question is often whether the property is marital, separate, or both. Disputes can involve homes, retirement accounts, investments, businesses, bank accounts, debts, premarital property, gifts, and inheritances.

For families with businesses, equity compensation, investment accounts, or substantial retirement assets, identifying and valuing property can become a significant part of a divorce.

Our attorneys can help identify relevant records, evaluate how property should be characterized, and advocate for your interests during negotiations or court proceedings.

Can a Georgia Family Law Order Be Changed Later?

Some family court orders can be modified when Georgia’s legal requirements are satisfied. Modification issues commonly involve child custody, parenting time, child support, and certain alimony obligations. However, a change in circumstances does not automatically change an existing order.

Until a court approves a modification, the current order generally remains controlling.

When you share your existing order and what has changed since it was entered, we can explain whether pursuing a modification is appropriate. 

What if the Other Person Is Not Following the Court Order?

When someone fails to comply with a divorce decree, custody order, parenting plan, or support order, a contempt proceeding may let you ask the court to enforce its terms. Disputes can involve unpaid support, interference with parenting time, failure to transfer property, or other obligations established by a family court order.

Our attorneys can review your order, help document the alleged noncompliance, determine which enforcement options may be available, and protect your rights under Georgia law.

What Should I Do Before Meeting With a Family Law Attorney?

You do not need to have your entire case organized before scheduling a consultation. However, gathering some basic information can make our conversation more productive.

Useful documents may include existing court orders, pleadings you have received, parenting schedules, financial statements, tax returns, pay records, and relevant communications. It also helps to think about your priorities. Someone beginning a divorce may care most about preserving time with children, remaining in the home, protecting a business, or maintaining financial stability.

Understanding those priorities helps our attorneys focus the discussion on what matters most to you. You do not need to determine the legal strategy on your own. Bring your questions and available information to your Cordell Consult™, and our attorneys can help you identify the issues that deserve attention.

Local Family Law Representation for Alpharetta and North Fulton

Alpharetta families often build their lives across North Fulton rather than within a single neighborhood. Work, schools, childcare, extracurricular activities, and parenting exchanges can stretch between Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek, Roswell, and surrounding communities. Those practical realities can become important in family law.

A parenting schedule that looks workable on paper may work differently when you consider school locations, commuting patterns, activities, and exchanges. Housing decisions during divorce can likewise affect school routines and transportation.

Our lawyers can help you consider those practical consequences alongside the legal requirements when developing proposed parenting arrangements or resolving other family law issues.

Reach Out to the Alpharetta Family Law Attorneys at Cordell & Cordell to Learn More

You do not have to understand every Georgia family law rule before speaking with an attorney. Whether you are considering divorce, facing a custody or support dispute, trying to enforce an existing order, or dealing with another family law concern, our lawyers can help you understand your options and the decisions ahead.

At Cordell & Cordell, our lawyers represent clients in matters involving divorce, children, support, property, modifications, enforcement, and other domestic relations issues. Our team protects our clients’ rights while providing clear, practical guidance throughout the legal process.

Schedule a Cordell Consult™ with our family law team. Call the Alpharetta office at (943) 202-1328 or schedule your consultation online.