Attorney Margaret Eileen Simpson's Legal Cases

Child custody

Child custody in Gwinnett County Superior Court

Jun 19, 2015

OUTCOME: Custody of abused child awarded to Grandparent

Client had taken in his grandson after the child’s Father was convicted of abusing the child. The Grandfather needed a court order granting custody of the child to him so that he could obtain insuranc ... e for the child. The child’s Mother lived out of state and was in favor of custody being granted to the Grandfather. However, the Father would not agree to it. While the child lived with the Grandfather, the Father continued to collect child support payments from the Mother, but refused to pay any support to the Grandfather. Since the Father would not agree to the Grandfather being granted custody, we had to go to trial and show the judge that it was in the child’s best interest to continue living with Grandfather and forcing him to return to the Father would harm the child. I also asked the judge to order the Father to pay child support to the Grandfather for the period that the child had been living with him and going forward. I presented case law supporting our arguments, and the judge granted all of our requests.

Family

Fulton County Superior Court

Apr 29, 2014

OUTCOME: Former Husband who sought to terminate alimony to his Former Wife after he failed to pay for over a year was denied and he was ordered to pay the full arrearage and attorney's fees

The parties’ marriage ended after the Husband had an affair and left his Wife of thirty years for a younger woman. He agreed to pay alimony to the Former Wife, but as soon as the divorce was final, he ... told her he was having financial problems and stopped paying. Over a year later, he filed a lawsuit seeking to terminate his alimony obligation to the Former Wife based on his accusation that she had been living with another man and therefore, she did not need support from him. I performed research and submitted briefs to the Court showing that the Former Wife essentially had no choice but to move in with someone because she was not receiving any support from the Former Husband and needed help to get on her feet after their devastating divorce. We attempted to reach an agreement with the Former Husband to pay at least some of what he owed in unpaid alimony, but he refused to pay a single penny of the arrears or any alimony going forward. At trial, the judge denied Former Husband's request to terminate his alimony obligation and ordered him to pay all of the arrearage plus the Former Wife’s legal fees.

Family

Legitimation in Cobb County Superior Court

Dec 11, 2012

OUTCOME: Legitimation granted to loving, involved Father over Mother's baseless objection

Client sought to legally establish parental rights for his ten-year-old daughter born out of wedlock. The parties had worked together throughout the child’s life without a court order establishing vis ... itation or child support. The Father had voluntarily paid support to the Mother and been an involved presence in the child’s life. Suddenly, the Mother attempted to cut off contact between the Father and child. The Father had no choice but to seek a court order establishing his right to have regular parenting time with his child. The Mother opposed the Father having any parenting time with the child and even objected to the Father being declared the child’s legal Father, even though there was no dispute as to paternity. We were forced to go to trial, where I presented evidence to the judge that the Father had always been involved in the child’s life and that they had a great relationship. We showed that it would be in the child’s best interest for this relationship to continue and for Client to be declared the child’s legal father. Mother brought the child into court to speak with the judge, but the judge found that the Mother had coached the child on what to say. She attempted to convince the child that the Father was abusive even though there was no evidence of this and the child could not remember the incident that the Mother alleged. The Father’s Petition for Legitimation was granted and he was finally allowed to have a regular schedule with his daughter without the Mother interfering.

Divorce and separation

Divorce in Fulton County Superior Court

Apr 17, 2012

OUTCOME: Case dismissed against alleged girlfriend accused of receiving fraudulent transfers from Husband in a Divorce case

Wife joined Client as a party to a divorce action based on accusations that Husband had hidden marital money by giving it to Client for safekeeping. Wife was angry that Husband had begun a relationshi ... p with Client after the parties separated. She sought revenge by dragging her into the parties’ divorce case even though Wife had no proof that Client ever received anything from Husband. Client was forced to incur legal fees to defend herself. After extensive research, the case against Client was dismissed on summary judgment due to lack of evidence. Wife appealed the decision, but her appeal was denied after we submitted a brief showing that the trial court’s decision to dismiss the case was correct. Ultimately, an agreement was reached for Wife to pay a large portion of the legal fees Client incurred defending against Wife’s frivolous claims.

Margaret Eileen Simpson's Legal Cases (4)

Child custody in Gwinnett County Superior Court

Fulton County Superior Court

Legitimation in Cobb County Superior Court

Divorce in Fulton County Superior Court