How to Get Divorced in Georgia: Filing, Property, and Custody

To get divorced in Georgia, at least one spouse must have lived in the state for six months, and after you file a petition in Superior Court and serve your spouse, a judge cannot sign the final decree for at least 31 days. Between those two bookends sits the real work: choosing your grounds, exchanging financial disclosures, resolving property division, custody, child support, and alimony either by agreement or at trial, and then getting the judge to enter a Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce.

Residency and Where to File

Georgia courts will not hear your case unless at least one spouse has been a genuine resident of the state for six consecutive months immediately before filing.¹ The filing spouse doesn’t have to be the resident. A nonresident can file in the Georgia county where the resident spouse has lived for at least six months.

You file in the Superior Court of the appropriate county. Military members stationed in Georgia for at least a year can file in a county adjacent to their post even without meeting the ordinary residency test.¹

Choosing Your Grounds

Georgia recognizes 13 grounds for divorce. Twelve are fault-based, covering things like adultery, desertion of a year or more, cruel treatment, habitual intoxication, and conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude with a prison sentence of two or more years.² The thirteenth, and the one most spouses use, is that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” That’s the no-fault option, and it avoids proving wrongdoing.

Fault still matters in one important way. A spouse whose adultery or desertion caused the separation is barred from receiving alimony, regardless of the grounds actually pleaded.³ If spousal support is in play, expect the court to hear evidence about what caused the marriage to end.

Contested or Uncontested

Every Georgia divorce is either contested or uncontested, and the label controls how long and expensive the case will be. Uncontested means both spouses agree on every issue: property, debts, custody, child support, and alimony. Those cases can wrap up shortly after the 31-day waiting period.

Contested means disagreement on at least one significant issue, which forces hearings, mediation, and sometimes a trial. Many cases start contested and settle along the way.

Filing the Petition

The case officially begins when you file a Complaint for Divorce, sometimes called a Petition for Divorce, with the Superior Court clerk.⁴ The petition identifies both spouses, states your grounds, and lays out what you want the court to decide. Standard forms are available from the clerk or the court’s website.

The filing fee varies by county but generally runs in the low $200s. If you can’t afford it, request a waiver by filing an affidavit of indigence.

Before you file, pull together your marriage date, separation date, the names and birthdates of any minor children, and records of both spouses’ income, assets, and debts. You’ll need this information again during disclosures, and having it in one place at the start prevents delays.

Serving Your Spouse

Once filed, the petition must be formally delivered to your spouse. You cannot hand-deliver the papers yourself. Service has to be completed by a sheriff’s deputy, a certified process server, or another adult appointed by the court who isn’t a party to the case.⁵

If your spouse is cooperating, they can sign an Acknowledgment of Service before a notary, which removes the need to track them down.⁵ Whoever completes service must file proof with the court within five business days. Without that proof on file, your spouse’s response clock doesn’t start.

The Answer and Why Default Doesn’t Apply

The served spouse has 30 days to file an answer, which responds to each allegation and raises any counterclaims (a request for custody, alimony, or a different property split). If the other spouse also wants a divorce but on different terms, they file a counterclaim alongside the answer.

Georgia handles nonresponse differently from most civil cases. Even if the served spouse never answers, the court cannot enter a default judgment granting the divorce automatically.⁶ The filing spouse still has to prove the case through verified pleadings, affidavits, or an evidentiary hearing. An absent spouse loses the ability to contest terms, so the court usually accepts what the filing spouse proposes after confirming it’s reasonable, but the divorce itself is never granted just by silence.

Financial Disclosures

Both spouses must complete a Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit, a sworn document laying out income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. Georgia courts take this seriously. Incomplete or dishonest affidavits can bring sanctions or an unfavorable ruling.

Each spouse must also give the other side supporting documents:

The three most recent pay stubs
The three most recent federal and state tax returns, with W-2s
For any unfiled recent tax year, the W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and other documents that would attach to a return
For any business interest, corporate or partnership tax returns for the last three years, annual financial statements, and current accounts receivable and payable

These attachments are served on the other spouse and generally are not filed with the court. If children are involved, you’ll also prepare a child support worksheet using the Georgia Child Support Calculator, which covers gross income, adjustments, parenting time, health insurance, childcare costs, and any deviations.⁷ The completed worksheet and a Certificate of Service do get filed with the clerk.

Restrictions Once You File

Many Georgia counties issue an automatic domestic standing order the moment a case is filed. It stays in place until the final decree and typically prohibits both spouses from:

Selling, hiding, transferring, or encumbering marital assets outside the ordinary course of business
Canceling or altering health, auto, life, disability, or dental insurance that was in place when the case was filed
Moving minor children out of Georgia, with limited exceptions for vacations of 14 days or less and customary activities like camp or boarding school

Violating a standing order can trigger contempt. In counties that don’t issue automatic orders, the court can impose similar restrictions on request. The point is to freeze the status quo so neither spouse drains accounts or moves assets while the case is pending.

Temporary Orders

Divorces take months, and life keeps going. Either spouse can ask the court for temporary orders covering interim custody and visitation, temporary child support, temporary spousal support (alimony pendente lite), exclusive use of the marital home, and responsibility for specific debts like the mortgage or a car payment.

The court holds a hearing before entering temporary orders, and both sides present evidence. These orders aren’t permanent, and the final decree can set entirely different terms. In practice, they matter more than that suggests. Judges sometimes treat a stable temporary arrangement as a working model, especially for custody, so what happens in the first few months of the case can shape the final outcome.

Dividing Property and Debts

Georgia is an equitable distribution state, meaning marital property is divided fairly, not necessarily equally.⁸ The court weighs each spouse’s financial position, contributions to the marriage (including homemaking), the length of the marriage, and future needs. There’s no formula.

Only marital property is divided. Separate property, meaning anything owned before the marriage or received during the marriage as a personal gift or inheritance, stays with its owner.⁹ The hard cases involve property that started separate and got mixed with marital funds, like a premarital savings account both spouses deposited into during the marriage. Tracing which dollars are whose is one of the most contested pieces of property division.

Retirement Accounts

Retirement accounts earned during the marriage are marital property, but you can’t split a 401(k) or pension by writing a check. Federal law generally prohibits assigning plan benefits to anyone other than the account holder. The workaround is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO, which directs the plan administrator to pay a share of the benefits to the other spouse.¹⁰

A QDRO is a separate document from the decree. It has to identify both spouses, specify the plan, and state the exact amount or percentage being transferred. Get any of that wrong and the plan administrator will reject it, which is why most attorneys either draft QDROs themselves or hire a specialist. A properly executed QDRO also avoids early withdrawal penalties and immediate tax on the transfer.

Custody and Child Support

Georgia custody decisions turn on the child’s best interests.¹¹ Legal custody covers major decisions about education, healthcare, and religion. Physical custody is about where the child lives. Either can be sole or joint. Joint legal custody is common. Joint physical custody is less common but is increasingly ordered when parents live close by and can cooperate.

Child support follows an income-shares model under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, which was updated effective January 1, 2026.¹² The calculation combines both parents’ gross incomes, sets a basic support obligation based on the number of children, and allocates that obligation between the parents. Adjustments account for health insurance premiums, childcare costs, and parenting time. A judge can deviate from the guideline amount but must explain the reasons in writing.

Many judicial circuits require divorcing parents to attend a court-approved parenting seminar. Whether it applies depends on your circuit’s local rules, so check with the clerk’s office early.

Alimony

Alimony isn’t automatic. Georgia judges have discretion to award it, deny it, or set any amount and duration based on the circumstances.³ The court considers the length of the marriage, each spouse’s earning capacity and financial resources, the standard of living during the marriage, contributions (including as a homemaker), and each spouse’s conduct.

The hard rule: a spouse whose adultery or desertion caused the separation cannot receive alimony. That bar is statutory, not discretionary, and it applies regardless of the grounds pleaded for the divorce.³

Attorney Fees

Georgia courts can order one spouse to pay the other’s attorney fees as part of the expenses of litigation.¹³ It isn’t automatic. The court looks at each party’s financial position, whether one spouse has significantly greater ability to pay, and whether the fees claimed are reasonable. A fee award can come at any point in the case, not just the end. If you’re the lower-earning spouse, raise this with your attorney early, because the court can order interim payments while the case is pending.

Settling or Going to Trial

Most Georgia divorces settle. That happens through direct negotiation or through mediation, where a neutral third party helps the spouses work toward a resolution without making decisions for them. Many courts require mediation before setting a trial date, and it resolves cases more often than spouses expect, including cases that feel deadlocked.

If mediation doesn’t finish the job, the remaining issues go to trial. Either party can request a jury trial for property division in Georgia, though custody stays with the judge.

When spouses reach agreement, they put it in a written settlement agreement covering every issue: property, debts, custody, parenting time, child support, and alimony. Both sign, and it goes to the court for approval. The judge reviews it for fairness and, where children are involved, for their best interests. The agreement then becomes part of the final decree and is enforceable as a court order.

The Final Decree

A Georgia divorce is not final until a Superior Court judge signs a Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce.¹⁴ The earliest that can happen is 31 days after your spouse was served. In an uncontested case with a signed settlement agreement and clean paperwork, the judge may sign without a hearing. Contested cases require a final hearing or trial first.

The decree covers the divorce itself, property division, custody, support, and any name restoration. Once signed, it’s binding. The appeal window is 30 days from the date the decree is entered.

After the Divorce

Restoring a Prior Name

The simplest path is to request name restoration in your initial petition. When the divorce is granted, the decree specifies the restored name.¹⁵ If you didn’t ask for it during the divorce, you can file a separate ex parte motion after the fact to restore your birth surname. No newspaper publication is required, and there’s no deadline for filing.

Update Your Will and Beneficiary Designations

Georgia law automatically treats a former spouse as having predeceased you for purposes of any will made before the divorce. Provisions leaving property to your ex or naming them as executor become void on their own.¹⁵ That protection covers wills only. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and bank accounts are governed by the plan documents or contracts, not by that statute. If your ex is still named on your 401(k) or life insurance policy, that designation typically controls. Updating beneficiaries right after the decree is one of the most commonly missed post-divorce tasks.

Health Insurance

A former spouse is no longer an eligible dependent on your employer-sponsored plan. If your spouse was covered through your plan, you generally have 31 days from the divorce to notify the plan and remove them, and failure to do so can be treated as intentional misrepresentation. The ex-spouse losing coverage typically qualifies for a special enrollment period to get coverage through their own employer, a marketplace plan, or COBRA continuation coverage.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 19-5-2 – Residence Requirements; Venue
2
Justia. Georgia Code 19-5-3 – Grounds for Total Divorce
3
Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-1 – Alimony Defined; When Authorized; How Determined
4
Georgia.gov. File for Divorce
5
Justia. Georgia Code 9-11-4 – Process
6
Justia. Georgia Code 19-5-8 – Pleading and Practice
7
Georgia Child Support Commission. Georgia Child Support Calculator User Guide
8
Justia. Georgia Code 19-5-13 – Disposition of Property in Accordance With Verdict
9
Justia. Georgia Code 19-3-9 – Each Spouses Property Separate
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 1056 – Form and Payment of Benefits
11
Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-3 – Establishment and Review of Child Custody and Visitation
12
Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-15 – Child Support Guidelines for Determining Amount of Award
13
Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-2 – Attorneys Fees; When and How Determined
14
Justia. Georgia Code 19-5-12 – Form of Judgment and Decree
15
Justia. Georgia Code 53-4-49 – Effect of Testators Divorce, Annulment, or Remarriage to Former Spouse