22.005 Divorce; Introduction

22.005 Divorce; Introduction The following new charge is suggested for use in conjunction with the new child support guidelines, effective January 1, 2007. Please see cautionary note (at 22.000) for further information. You have been considering the case of (enter name of plaintiff) as Plaintiff vs. (enter name of defendant) as Defendant, Civil Action No. (enter number). (One of the issues that you must decide in this case is whether or not _____________ is entitled to a divorce.) (The divorce is agreed and will be granted by the court upon conclusion of this trial.) You will (also) be deciding issues incidental to divorce. Each party is seeking an equitable division of property (and______________ is/are seeking alimony) (and ________________is seeking child support). Each party has the burden of proof as to that which he/she seeks. The party who has (parties who have) the burden of proof must prove his/her (their) case by what is known as a "preponderance of the evidence." (Refer to the following charges from General Civil Instructions as appropriate.) 02.100 Evidence, Generally 02.110 Evidence, Direct or Circumstantial 02.120 Expert Witnesses 02.121 Expert Witness; Fair Market Value; Comparable Sales (see 14.150 et seq., Condemnation; Fair Market Value) 02.130 Credibility of Witnesses 02.140 Conflicting Evidence; Reconciliation 02.150 Impeachment of Witnesses 02.160 Failure to Produce Evidence 02.161 Failure to Produce Witnesses; Generally 02.162 Failure to Produce Witnesses; Mutual Accessibility 02.163 Failure to Produce Witnesses; Control by Party 02.170 Admissions 02.171 Acquiescence or Silence 22.010 Divorce; How Granted Under our law, total divorces may be granted in proper cases. O.C.G.A. §19-5-1 You should decide this issue first, because if the divorce is not granted, there is no need to decide any other issue.