Residency Requirements

• To file for divorce in Georgia, minimum residency requirements must be met. Either one spouse must have lived in the state for six months or Georgia must have been the last place where the couple shared a residence. Divorce papers must be filed with the superior court in the county of the defendant's residence or, if the defendant has lived there less than six months, the county where the couple last lived together.
  
  

No-Fault Divorce

• Georgia offers 13 grounds for filing divorce. "No-fault" divorces are the most common. This means at least one spouse perceives the relationship as being "irrevocably broken" due to personal issues the couple can't resolve. If both spouses are in agreement about the divorce, a settlement can be arranged outside court. If one spouse is resisting the divorce, law enforcement will serve paperwork to the defendant, who is supposed to file an official reply within 30 days. Since no official statute of limitations exists in Georgia, a failure to respond in 30 days does not result in an automatic win for the plaintiff. However, it may expedite the trial and influence the judge's perspective.
  
  

Fault Divorce

• In addition to no-fault divorce, Georgia also offers 12 fault-based options. One spouse must prove the other was in violation of a specific principle. Proving fault will affect final judgments of alimony, child support, custody and the allocation of property and debt. Fault-based divorces in Georgia include those based on abandonment, adultery, abuse, criminal violations, mental illness, fraud at the time of marriage, mental incapacity at the time of marriage, undisclosed pregnancy by a person other than the husband at the time of marriage, impotency, drug addiction, habitual intoxication and marriage between people who are too closely related. To file for abandonment, a minimum of one year must pass from when the spouse was physically present and in communication. As soon as the other violations are discovered, the plaintiff may seek the divorce. Even though the lack of a formal statute of limitations means the plaintiff may file the complaint at any time, a judge will consider the amount of elapsed time when making a final judgment.
  
  

Alimony and Child Support

• Also called spousal support, alimony is a payment one spouse must make to help support the other. It may be awarded to either the husband or wife. It may be made in one lump sum or monthly installments until the recipient either remarries or dies. Child support must be paid monthly to the parent granted primary physical custody. It continues until the child reaches the age of 18 or receives legal emancipation, or until physical custody is modified and the child support order is changed. It is possible for parents to file for modification of custody in Georgia if significant changes occur within the child's primary living environment. Additionally, children may request a modification in physical custody when they reach age 14. Outside of the specific situations described, alimony and child support must be paid according to an established schedule. Otherwise, the recipient may take the former spouse to court at any time to recover funds owed.