Georgia Divorce Laws: Residency, Waiting Period, Custody and Support

The person filing must have been a good-faith (bona fide) resident of Georgia for 6 months before filing. A nonresident may file in the county where the other spouse lives if that spouse has lived in Georgia, and in that county, for 6 months. A person who has lived on a U.S. military post in Georgia for 1 year may file in a county next to the post.

Georgia allows both no-fault and fault divorce. The no-fault ground is that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The statute also lists 12 other grounds, including adultery, desertion for 1 year, cruel treatment, habitual intoxication or drug addiction, a criminal conviction with a sentence of 2 or more years, incurable mental illness, and certain defects at the time of marriage such as fraud, duress, or impotency.

A divorce on the no-fault ground cannot be granted until at least 30 days after the other spouse is served. Under court rules, an agreed (uncontested) divorce may be granted 31 days after service or acknowledgment of service; an unanswered case 46 days after service; and a case served by publication 61 days after first publication.

By state law, the superior court clerk's base fee for a civil case, including a divorce, is $58 for services through judgment. Other laws add fees, so the total charged varies by county. Sheriff's service fees are separate. A person who cannot pay because of indigence may file an affidavit (pauper's affidavit) instead of paying.

Georgia has no separate simplified divorce procedure, but uncontested divorces are handled more quickly. With the written consent of both spouses, a divorce may be granted any time 31 days after service or acknowledgment of service. If the other spouse does not answer, a divorce may be granted 46 days after service.

Alimony may be temporary or permanent. A spouse cannot receive alimony if the separation was caused by that spouse's adultery or desertion. Otherwise, alimony is based on one spouse's need and the other's ability to pay. Factors include the standard of living during the marriage, length of the marriage, age and health, each spouse's finances, time needed for education or training, contributions to the marriage (including homemaking and child-rearing), and separate property and earning ability. There is no duration formula. Permanent alimony ends when the recipient remarries, unless otherwise provided.

The judge decides custody based solely on the best interest of the child. Neither parent has a presumed right to custody. The judge may order sole custody, joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or a combination. Factors include emotional bonds, each parent's capacity to care for the child, stability, health, involvement in the child's life, willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent, and any family violence. A child 14 or older may choose which parent to live with, and that choice is presumptive unless it is not in the child's best interest. For a child aged 11 to 13, the judge considers the child's wishes but they are not controlling. Each parent must submit a parenting plan in permanent custody cases.

Georgia uses an income shares model (in effect since January 1, 2007). Both parents' gross monthly incomes, after certain adjustments, are combined, a basic obligation is found on the statutory schedule, and each parent owes a share in proportion to income, plus prorated health insurance and work-related child care costs. The Georgia Child Support Commission provides the official online calculator. Support generally continues until the child reaches majority, dies, marries, or is emancipated; a court may extend it while the child is still in high school, but not past age 20.

Each superior court circuit may set up a seminar on the effects of divorce on children, and the judge may order any or all parties in a domestic relations case to attend a seminar of up to 4 hours. A fee may be charged, with a waiver for indigent parties. The judge may waive attendance for good cause, and failing to complete it can delay the final decree or lead to contempt.

Georgia does not have a legal separation decree by that name, but spouses who are living apart (with no divorce pending) may ask the superior court for support and other orders, much like temporary orders in a divorce. This is commonly called separate maintenance. Either spouse may file, for themselves or for minor children in their custody.

The superior court may annul marriages that are void under the law. An annulment cannot be granted if children were born or are to be born of the marriage.

No new common-law marriages can be formed in Georgia on or after January 1, 1997. Common-law marriages validly formed before that date are still recognized.

A grandparent may file an original action for visitation, and grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings may join an existing custody or divorce case. An original action is not allowed if the parents are not separated and the child lives with both. The court may grant visitation only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the child's health or welfare would be harmed without it and that visitation is in the child's best interest. A grandparent may file an original action only once every 2 years.

Either spouse may ask in the divorce papers to have a maiden or prior name restored. If the divorce is granted, the decree must restore the requested name.

The duty to support a minor child continues until the child reaches the age of majority (18), dies, marries or becomes emancipated, whichever comes first. In orders entered on or after July 1, 1992, the court may require either or both parents to keep supporting a child who has not married or become emancipated, is enrolled in and attending secondary school, and turned 18 before finishing high school, but not after the child turns 20.

Apply to the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS), online or by printing, completing and mailing the right application packet (Packet I for a new case with no order, Packet II when there is an existing order and the other parent lives in Georgia, Packet III when the other parent lives in another state) with any applicable fee to the child support office in your county. A $35 annual federal fee applies on cases of families that never received TANF once $550 has been paid out to the custodial parent in a fiscal year; in Georgia the noncustodial parent owes this fee. DCSS toll-free: (877) 423-4746.

DCSS uses income withholding orders sent to employers, federal and state tax refund offset (when $150 or more is owed on a TANF case or $500 or more on a non-TANF case), levies on bank accounts identified through the Financial Institution Data Match program, and driver's license suspension for parents out of compliance for 90 days (a parent who reports a job or income change may sign an Enforcement Deferral to avoid suspension). DCSS collects interest at 7% on judgments in its cases, starting when the paying parent is 30 days delinquent.

A parent may ask the court to modify child support only if there is a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or in the child's needs. Generally, the same parent cannot file another petition to modify within two years of the final order on that parent's previous petition, unless the noncustodial parent has not used, or has used more than, the ordered visitation, or the request is based on an involuntary loss of income. The court may allow a temporary change while the petition is pending. DCSS can also review an order on request; the amount may go up, down or stay the same, past-due support is not modified, and the review can take up to six months. The requesting parent pays a $100 non-refundable review fee when the review is complete, unless they receive TANF or Medicaid or have non-TANF gross income of $1,000 a month or less.

Under Georgia's interstate custody law, a Georgia court has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in Georgia and has been abandoned, or emergency action is needed to protect the child because the child, a sibling or a parent is being mistreated or abused or threatened with it. If another state has jurisdiction, the Georgia order lasts only until an order is obtained from that state within the period the court sets.

The state Office of Vital Records can confirm a divorce, but copies of divorce records are held by the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the divorce was granted, and all requests for divorce records must go through that superior court.

Licenses are issued by the probate judge or clerk at the county courthouse; if either person lives in Georgia, any county may issue it, otherwise it must come from the county where the ceremony will be held. Both applicants file a written application under oath with names, birth dates, addresses, parents' names and whether they completed premarital education, plus a supplemental report with Social Security numbers. The judge must see documentary proof of age, such as a birth certificate, driver's license, passport or military ID. There is no waiting period for eligible applicants. Couples who are both 18 or older and complete at least six hours of qualifying premarital education within the prior 12 months pay no license fee. The officiant must return the license to the probate judge within 30 days after the wedding.

Both people must be at least 18, except a 17-year-old who has been emancipated (by operation of law or by court order) may marry if at least 15 days have passed since the emancipation, the other party is no more than four years older, and each 17-year-old presents a certificate of premarital education. No license may be issued to anyone under 17.

A person may petition to adopt if he or she is at least 21 (or married and living with the spouse), at least 10 years older than the child (except stepparents and relatives), a bona fide Georgia resident when filing (with an exception for some interstate placements), and financially, physically and mentally able to have permanent custody. A married petitioner files jointly with the spouse, except a stepparent, who files alone. Parents' rights must generally be surrendered or terminated, though the court may proceed without a surrender if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the parent abandoned the child, cannot be found, is incapacitated, or (for stepparent and relative adoptions) for a year or more significantly failed without justifiable cause to communicate with or support the child, and the adoption is in the child's best interest. Before the hearing, a court-appointed agent investigates and reports.

The stepparent files alone. If both legal parents are living but not married to each other, the other parent must voluntarily surrender all rights in writing to the stepparent and consent; if only one parent is living, that parent must consent. Any guardian must also surrender rights, and a child 14 or older must consent in court. A surrender is signed under oath before a notary and an adult witness and may be revoked within four days. The court may proceed without the other parent's surrender if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that, for at least one year before filing, the parent significantly failed without justifiable cause to communicate with or support the child, or another ground applies. No home study is required, and the court may but need not appoint an investigator.

Georgia has several kinds of guardianship for minors, handled in probate court. A temporary guardianship can be granted without a hearing when the parent(s) give notarized written consent; a parent who did not consent gets notice and may object, and either parent may later petition to end it. Any interested person may petition the probate court where the minor is found or the proposed guardian lives for a permanent guardian of a minor who has no natural, testamentary or permanent guardian. A parent may also name a testamentary guardian by will, or a standby guardian.

The probate court may appoint a guardian for an adult only if it finds the adult lacks sufficient capacity to make or communicate significant responsible decisions about his or her health or safety, and only if the appointment is in the adult's best interest. No adult is presumed to need a guardian without an adjudication. After a petition, an evaluation report is filed; if the court finds no probable cause it dismisses, otherwise it holds a recorded hearing with notice to the proposed ward, the ward's counsel and family members named in the petition.

When both parents sign a notarized voluntary acknowledgment of paternity and it is filed with the State Office of Vital Records within 30 days and recorded in the putative father registry, it is a legal determination of paternity (biological fatherhood) for support and related matters; it does not by itself legitimate the child. Either signer may rescind before the earlier of 60 days after signing or the date of a support order or other order adjudicating paternity. After 60 days it can be challenged in court only for fraud, duress or material mistake of fact. Court-ordered genetic testing must be done by an accredited laboratory.

A person files a verified petition in the superior court of the county where he or she lives, stating the reasons in full. Within seven days after filing, the petitioner must publish notice once a week for four consecutive weeks in the county's legal organ. A petitioner who is a victim of family violence or human trafficking may ask to file under seal, and the court may waive publication.

A child is emancipated automatically by valid marriage, turning 18, or active military duty. A child at least 16 may also petition the juvenile court in the county where he or she lives. The court must issue an emancipation order after a hearing if emancipation is in the child's best interest and the child shows he or she is a Georgia resident, can manage his or her finances (employment or other support, not means-tested public assistance), can manage personal and social affairs including housing, and understands the rights and responsibilities involved; if a parent objects, the child must show emancipation is in his or her best interest. An emancipated child has adult rights to contract, sue, keep earnings, set up a home and consent to medical care, but not voting, alcohol or other age-based rules, and parents' support duty ends with the order.

Georgia's Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts advises checking the website of the county Superior Court where you will file for its divorce forms packet; if the county has no self-help forms, it points to the Southern Judicial Circuit's all-purpose self-help forms. Its checklist of divorce forms includes the Divorce Complaint and Verification, Case Filing Form, General Civil Domestic Disposition Form, Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit, Summons and Sheriff's Service form, Acknowledgment of Service, Settlement Agreement, and Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce; divorces with children also need Child Support Worksheets (from the state's online child support calculator), a Parenting Plan and a Divorcing Parents Seminar certificate. An Affidavit of Poverty asks to waive fees.

The Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) is the state child support agency. Apply online (services.georgia.gov/dhr/cspp/do/public/ApplyNow) or download an application packet and mail it, with any applicable fee, to the child support office in your county: Packet I when no order exists, Packet II when an order exists and the noncustodial parent lives in Georgia, and Packet III when the noncustodial parent lives in another state. Parents can log in to the Customer Online Services Portal to manage a case. Toll-free: (877) 423-4746.

The Georgia Child Support Commission publishes the official online Georgia Child Support Calculator, which produces a Child Support Worksheet for the guidelines in O.C.G.A. 19-6-15. You create a free account ("Signup"), log in and start a worksheet; you do not need to be an attorney. The calculator figures a presumptive amount from the Basic Child Support Obligation and your entries; deviations (Schedule E) can raise or lower it and are subject to the judge's discretion, so the court or jury decides the final amount. The old Excel calculators are retired.