The Largest Child Support Award in Georgia History – 770-609-1247
A high-profile case between Willie Gary and the mother of his twins, Diana Gowins, probably goes down for one of the most dramatic in Georgia history. The twins, which were born to Gowins after she and Gary had an affair, were set to receive $14,000 each in child support monthly. Gary also threw in a lump sum, agreed to pay for healthcare and maintenance costs and college.
However, two issues then arose: Gary maintained that he had only agreed to pay $14,000 per child and he said that Gowins was misusing the money; namely, squandering it on expensive clothes and cruises for herself as well as reportedly spending it on diamond rings for her teenage daughter, fathered by another man.
Meanwhile Gary, whose monthly salary is upwards of a million dollars, remained married to his wife and the mother of their adult children. Gowins lawyer, Randall Kessler, cited a section of GA child support law as stating that the children of unmarried parents, to the extent possible, should enjoy the same economic standard of living as children living intact families consisting of parents with similar financial means, to argue that the twins should continue to receive close to $336,000 a year in support from their father.
In 2002, Gary reached an out of court settlement to pay $14,000 per month per child, but later claimed that that was the total amount he was to pay for both children. From there, the case took several turns as it weaved its way through and up the Georgia court system. First, in 2005, Judge Wright ruled that Gowins right to the full $28,000 was to be upheld.
Then, the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals, when Garys complaint and proposal to pay $5,000 a month in support for the twins was upheld in 2006. The judge hearing the case was heavily influenced by Gowins refusal to work despite her physical, mental, and educational ability.
Furthermore, after the 2005 decision, the case was focused on whether Gary, who had been paying at least $14,000 in support since 2002, would need to pay the back child support for the other child, a total of $462,000. The resolution of the contempt case brought against him occurred when the state Supreme Court said Wright could not hold Gary in contempt for failing to pay the support for both children from 2002-2005 because previous statements did not include judgments on whether a back order would be paid.’
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