ga-family-court

name	ga-family-court
description	Use to choose venue and handle filing mechanics for a Georgia domestic-relations case — divorce, separate maintenance, annulment, custody and visitation, child support, legitimation and paternity, contempt and modification, adoption, termination of parental rights, and family-violence protective orders. CRITICAL: Georgia has NO separate statewide family-court trial court — these cases are heard in the SUPERIOR COURT (general-jurisdiction trial court), with divorce jurisdiction vested by O.C.G.A. § 19-5-1. Some high-volume circuits run a Family Division or family case-management track by local rule / standing order. Triggers: "where do I file for divorce in Georgia", "Fulton family division", "Superior Court family case", "custody filing Georgia", "Cobb County divorce", "Georgia legitimation filing", "Georgia child support case", "Georgia parenting plan", "Georgia TPO family violence", "Petitioner Respondent divorce Georgia". Venue and procedural skill; defers substantive law to `ga-family-law`.
version	0.1.0

Georgia Family Court — Family Matters in the Superior Court

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Divorce, custody, support, legitimation, and family-violence outcomes have lasting consequences for children, property, and safety. Strongly consider consulting a licensed Georgia family-law attorney even on an agreed or "simple" matter. This skill is a drafting/venue aid; verify the filing county's current local rules, any Family Division standing order, and the controlling statutes before filing. Local rules and judge-specific practices change; confirm with the clerk first.

Georgia has no separate, free-standing family-court trial court and no single statewide Family Division statute. Domestic-relations matters are heard in the Superior Court — Georgia's general-jurisdiction trial court. Divorce jurisdiction is vested in the Superior Court by O.C.G.A. § 19-5-1. Several high-volume circuits run a Family Division or a family case-management track by local rule or standing order — for example, Fulton County Superior Court and DeKalb operate dedicated Family Divisions, and Cobb (Cobb Judicial Circuit, Marietta) and Gwinnett (Gwinnett Judicial Circuit, Lawrenceville) run family case-management tracks. Treat the existence and procedure of any Family Division as a per-court (venue-specific) detail to verify with the local clerk and the controlling standing order. This skill covers where to file and filing mechanics; substantive law lives in ga-family-law.

Procedure is the Civil Practice Act

Georgia family cases run on the Georgia Civil Practice Act (O.C.G.A. Title 9, Ch. 11) and the Uniform Superior Court Rules, in the Superior Court. Title 19 (Domestic Relations) supplies the substantive law and certain special procedures (the waiting period, the mandatory parenting plan, the financial-disclosure requirements). A circuit's Family Division standing order — common in family cases — may add mutual restraining provisions (preserving the status quo, barring dissipation of assets, restricting relocation of children) and mandatory parenting seminars that take effect on filing. These are per-circuit: confirm whether the filing court has a standing order and what it requires before filing.

What this venue handles

Matter	Heard in the Superior Court?
Divorce / separate maintenance / annulment	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-5-1)
Equitable division of property	Yes — with the divorce
Alimony	Yes — with the divorce (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-1 et seq.)
Custody and visitation	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3)
Child support and modification	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15)
Legitimation	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-22)
Paternity	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-40 et seq.)
Contempt and modification	Yes
Adoption	Yes
Termination of parental rights	Yes
Family-violence protective orders (TPOs)	Yes (O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1 et seq.) — distinct procedure (see below)
UCCJEA / UIFSA jurisdiction	O.C.G.A. § 19-9-40 et seq. / § 19-11-100 et seq.

Terminology. Use Petitioner and Respondent for the parties and the Superior Court (or its Family Division, where the circuit has one) for the forum. Note that legitimation and paternity are distinct — a paternity action establishing support does not by itself confer custody or visitation; legitimation under § 19-7-22 is the vehicle for an unwed biological father's parental rights. Confirm the right vehicle against ga-family-law.

Required filings unique to family cases

• Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (DRFA). A sworn statement of income, expenses, assets, and debts is a standard required filing in contested divorce, support, and modification matters. Confirm the circuit's current form and exchange/filing deadline with the local rule. Use ga-draft-declaration for the sworn form.
• Child Support Worksheet. Where children are involved, the Georgia Child Support Worksheet generated through the Georgia Child Support Commission calculator (the official income-shares worksheet) is a standard required filing. The substantive income-shares calculation (BCSO table, add-ons, deviations) lives in ga-family-law (O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15).
• Parenting Plan — mandatory. A Parenting Plan is mandatory under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-1 in any case involving custody/visitation of a minor child (schedule, holidays, decision-making, transportation). The court will not enter a final custody order without one. The required contents are detailed in ga-family-law.

Family-violence protective orders are a distinct track

A family-violence Temporary Protective Order (TPO) under O.C.G.A. § 19-13-1 et seq. runs on its own statutory procedure — even when the same parties have a pending divorce or custody case. Coordinate the two cases but do not fold the TPO petition into the divorce/custody filing. Key framework features to verify against ga-family-law:

• Free to file — no filing fee for a family-violence TPO petition; use the standardized GSCCCA TPO forms.
• Venue is the respondent's county (O.C.G.A. § 19-13-2).
• The court may issue an ex parte TPO good for up to 30 days, with a mandatory hearing within ~30 days (O.C.G.A. § 19-13-3); after a hearing the court may enter a protective order up to one year (extendable).

TPO matters are time-sensitive and often involve safety concerns; encourage prompt consultation with counsel or a local family-violence advocate.

Adoption and termination of parental rights are likewise specialized proceedings with heightened procedure; confirm the governing statutory scheme before treating them as an ordinary family matter.

Venue and jurisdiction

• File in the Superior Court of the county of proper venue. For divorce, venue is generally the respondent's county (O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2); confirm the Georgia residency prerequisite (a bona fide resident period before filing) against ga-family-law and § 19-5-2.
• For a family-violence TPO, venue is the respondent's county (§ 19-13-2).
• If there are minor children, confirm Georgia is the child's home state under the UCCJEA (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-40 et seq.) and plead the jurisdictional allegations (ga-family-law).
• Confirm the circuit's family-docket assignment, whether a Family Division or family case-management track applies, and any automatic standing order with the venue skill (ga-fulton, ga-cobb, ga-gwinnett, ga-county-courts).

The caption and parties

Designate the parties Petitioner and Respondent and the forum the Superior Court of the county (its Family Division where the circuit runs one). Build the caption under ga-statewide-format (the O.C.G.A. § 9-11-10 caption, the Uniform Superior Court Rules form, and the signature block).

Filing mechanics

1. Confirm jurisdiction and venue — Superior Court of the proper county; divorce residency and venue (§ 19-5-2); TPO venue (§ 19-13-2); UCCJEA home-state allegations for children (ga-family-law).
2. Check the circuit's Family Division / standing order — determine whether the filing court has a Family Division or family case-management track and whether an automatic standing order (mutual restraining provisions, mandatory parenting seminar) takes effect on filing; comply with and serve it as the local rule requires.
3. Prepare the initiating documents — the Petition for Divorce (or Petition for Legitimation / Petition to Establish Paternity / Petition for Modification / Petition for Contempt), pleading the statutory ground and the custody/support/property requests. Use ga-statewide-format for the caption and form and ga-draft-motion / ga-draft-declaration / ga-draft-order for the documents.
4. Assemble the required family filings — the Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit, the Child Support Worksheet (Georgia Child Support Commission calculator) where children are involved, and the mandatory Parenting Plan (§ 19-9-1) for any custody matter.
5. File and pay (or waive) the fee — with the Clerk of Superior Court of the county. A self-represented filer who cannot afford costs may file a poverty affidavit / pauper's affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2 to proceed without prepayment of costs (a family-violence TPO petition is free to file). Confirm the county's filing fee and the e-filing path: Georgia counties file electronically through PeachCourt or Odyssey eFileGA, depending on the county (ga-file-packet, and the venue skill).
6. Serve the petition under the applicable service rule (personal service of the summons and petition); track the answer/response window under the Civil Practice Act (ga-first-30-days). For a TPO, the ex parte order and hearing notice are served on the respondent.
7. Track the waiting period and disclosures — confirm the divorce waiting period (no final no-fault divorce until the statutory period runs after service) against ga-family-law and § 19-5-3, and complete any mandatory parenting seminar (ga-deadlines, ga-schedule-hearing).

Self-represented (pro se) family intake

• Georgia courts publish self-help family-law forms and packets (uncontested divorce with/without minor children, legitimation, modification) through the Judicial Council / Administrative Office of the Courts and the county clerks; GSCCCA publishes the standardized family-violence TPO forms. Confirm the current packet and that the county accepts it.
• File with the Clerk of Superior Court of the county of proper venue (generally the respondent's county, § 19-5-2). Designate the filer clearly as self-represented in the signature block (no State Bar of Georgia number) — see ga-pro-se.
• Clerks and self-help-center staff explain procedure, not legal advice. Encourage consultation with a licensed Georgia family-law attorney where there are minor children, retirement assets, real property, a business, safety concerns, or any disputed issue.

Composition

• For substantive law (divorce grounds and the waiting period, equitable division, alimony, the § 19-9-3 best-interests custody analysis and the child's-election rule, the § 19-6-15 income-shares child-support calculation, legitimation vs. paternity, the mandatory parenting plan, UCCJEA/UIFSA, and the family-violence overlay): ga-family-law
• For document format and the Georgia caption: ga-statewide-format
• For the specific county / clerk / Family Division assignment and e-filing: ga-fulton, ga-cobb, ga-gwinnett, ga-county-courts
• For pro se conventions and self-help forms: ga-pro-se
• For the response and the first-30-days posture: ga-first-30-days
• For deadlines, the divorce waiting period, and time computation: ga-deadlines
• For drafting the petition / response / motion: ga-draft-motion
• For the Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit and other sworn declarations: ga-draft-declaration
• For the proposed parenting plan / decree / order: ga-draft-order, ga-submit-order
• For assembling and preflighting the filing packet: ga-file-packet
• For scheduling and hearings: ga-schedule-hearing, ga-hearings
• For citation verification: ga-fact-check

References

• references/family-division-local-practice.md — how the high-volume circuits (Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett) run Family Divisions / family case-management tracks and their standing orders; per-circuit verification pointers
• references/intake-checklist.md — the family-case filing checklist (venue, required affidavit/worksheet/parenting plan, fee or pauper's affidavit, e-filing path, service)
• references/required-financial-affidavit.md — the Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit and Child Support Worksheet requirements and contents
• references/tpo-intake.md — the family-violence TPO intake path (free filing, GSCCCA forms, ex parte order, hearing within ~30 days, § 19-13-1 et seq.)
• ../ga-law-references/references/court-rules/ — the Civil Practice Act, Uniform Superior Court Rules, and county local-rule / standing- order pointers for cross-reference