If you have a divorce, custody, legitimation, or visitation case pending in Cobb County and your children are under 18, both you and the other parent must complete a four-hour co-parenting class before the judge will finalize anything. The Cobb County divorcing parents seminar is run through the Superior Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Office and taught by Families First under contract with the court. It exists because Cobb’s judges adopted the requirement under Georgia Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.8, which lets each circuit mandate parent education in domestic relations cases.
Who Has to Take It
The requirement reaches any custody matter involving a child under 18. That includes divorce, separate maintenance, legitimation, custody modifications, visitation disputes, and paternity actions where custody or visitation is at issue.1Cobb County Georgia. Superior Court Programs Both parents must attend. You do not have to attend together, though. You and the other parent can register for completely different dates, which most people do.
The authority comes from Rule 24.8, which applies to “any domestic relations action before the court.”2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia Cobb County’s standing order for domestic relations cases directs all parties to attend and warns that noncompliance can result in sanctions or contempt.
How to Register
Registration goes through the Cobb County ADR Office. Have the following ready when you sign up:
- Your civil action case number
- The names of both parties as they appear on the court filings
- The presiding judge
- The filing date and attorney contact information
The case number matters. When you provide it at registration, the ADR Office files your certificate of completion directly with the Clerk of Superior Court after the class.1Cobb County Georgia. Superior Court Programs Without a case number, you still get your certificate, but filing it with the Clerk becomes your responsibility.
Classes run on both morning and evening schedules. You can reach the ADR Office at 770-528-1812 or ADRforms@cobbcounty.org. The office is located at 10 East Park Square, Suite 300, Marietta, Georgia 30090.3Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Cobb Judicial Circuit Superior Court ADR Program
Fees and Fee Waivers
Each participant pays a fee. Rule 24.8 requires every circuit running one of these programs to maintain a waiver procedure for parents who cannot afford to pay.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia If your income qualifies, you can file an affidavit of indigence with the court. The judge can also assess the fee as a court cost against either party, so one spouse sometimes ends up paying both. Call the ADR Office for the current amount and accepted payment methods.
What the Four Hours Cover
The class is four hours long and is led by professionals with backgrounds in child development and family dynamics.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia Cobb County describes the content as covering the court process and its effect on children, developmental stages, and strategies for reducing conflict between households.1Cobb County Georgia. Superior Court Programs
Rule 24.8 sets the minimum scope: how divorce affects children at different developmental stages, how parental behavior during and after separation shapes those effects, and how the financial side of divorce impacts kids.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia Instructors are not there to mediate your particular dispute or provide therapy. The point is a shared baseline of information so both parents make fewer avoidable mistakes.
Getting Your Certificate to the Judge
The ADR Office emails your certificate of completion within 48 hours of the class. If you gave them your case number at registration, they also file a copy with the Clerk of Superior Court for your case record.1Cobb County Georgia. Superior Court Programs The judge checks the file for both parents’ certificates before scheduling a final hearing, so a missing document from either side holds the case up.
If you attended before your case was filed, or you forgot to give the ADR Office your case number, keep the emailed certificate and file it with the Clerk yourself.
If You Do Not Attend
The requirement does not go away if you ignore it. Under Rule 24.8, a judge who does not see your certificate can withhold the final decree, hold you in contempt, or order you to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees and costs.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia Your case sits frozen until you complete the class.
One parent’s refusal does not block the other. The judge can grant the final decree to the parent who completed the seminar and impose separate sanctions on the parent who did not.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia
Waivers and Out-of-County Alternatives
The assigned judge can waive the seminar for good cause. Rule 24.8 gives examples: a parent who lives outside Georgia or outside Cobb County, a parent with reasonable access to a comparable program elsewhere, or other circumstances making attendance impractical.2Council of Superior Court Judges. Uniform Rules Superior Courts of the State of Georgia The judge can also accept alternative counseling that covers the same subject matter.
Georgia’s uniform rules allow circuits to recognize each other’s programs by agreement. If you live in a neighboring county with its own court-approved seminar, ask the ADR Office or your attorney whether Cobb will accept that certificate. Do not assume anything until you have a written order from the judge; attending the wrong program without approval is the same as not attending at all.
Accommodations and Language Access
Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, court-run programs cannot deny participation to people with disabilities. If you need wheelchair access, an assistive listening device, or materials in an accessible format, contact the ADR Office well before your class date. Requests that touch judicial decisions, such as extending deadlines or changing how you participate, go through the presiding judge rather than the ADR coordinator.
Parents with limited English proficiency should also contact the ADR Office in advance. Courts receiving federal funds have obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to provide meaningful access regardless of national origin or primary language, and arranging interpreters takes time.