Divorce laws in Georgia

Georgia divorce laws are found in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, otherwise known as the “O.C.G.A.” in Title 19 entitled “Domestic Relations”. There are many sections and sub-sections found there.

The Superior courts, located in each county in Georgia, have exclusive jurisdiction to process and rule on divorce cases. In addition to the Georgia Statutes there are numerous rules of procedure that apply to how a divorce case is processed through the court and what actions and deadlines apply to the divorcing spouses. In addition, each individual court may have local rules and procedures relevant only to that county. These local rules are in addition to the standard rules of procedure that apply to all superior courts in Georgia.

Divorce is not only an emotional progression but a very real and serious legal event. A divorce order legally and permanently ends a marriage. The final judgement in dissolution of marriage indicates how assets and debts are to be divided and sets out child support, timesharing and parental responsibility should the spouses have children together. Having knowledge of the law and your rights are imperative as the decisions and agreements you reach with your spouse have long term consequences.

In order to aid you in improving your knowledge of divorce law in Georgia we have extracted certain sections of the Georgia Statutes for you. We organized these sections of law into common areas wherein couples generally have the most questions.