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Georgia Divorces. Before you file, one spouse must have lived in the state of Georgia for 6 months or Georgia must have been the last domicile of the marriage.
Also, the couple must be considered separated, in a legal sense, before you file. In Georgia, being separated is not intuitive! You may still reside in the same house, but live in separate rooms. Or, reside in the same house and the same room, but not having marital relations.
The plaintiff (the person seeking the divorce) files a Complaint in the Superior Court of the appropriate county. It should include information about the marriage including current living arrangements, the children involved, all the assets and debts of the marriage, the specific grounds the plaintiff is using to ask for a divorce, and what the plaintiff is asking the court to do (ie, child support, alimony, marital residence, etc…)
The Complaint is filed in the Superior Court of the appropriate county (which is usually where you two live, but not always). Your spouse will be served with a copy of the Complaint by the sheriff. Alternatively, your spouse can “acknowledge” service by signing a document affirming that he or she received a copy.
The defendant may contest the reasons claimed for the divorce in an Answer. In that Answer each paragraph is addressed and the defendant will either agree or disagree with the content.
At this point, negotiations begin if there are disputed matters. Find all the issues you two agree on, isolating those that are in dispute. Once you have those issues in focus, it is best to seek mediation. If successful at mediation, you may enter into a Settlement Agreement, setting forth all matters between you. The court will review that Agreement and, if it is acceptable, issue a Final Order of divorce.
If those issues cannot be resolved with mediation, only then should you seek a trial before a judge (or jury, if you choose). Rather than you two negotiating your settlement, the court will listen to both sides and make their determination of all the marital issues.
Clearly, it is best if you can find agreement between you in mediation, rather than seeking a trial. Georgia divorces can be very expensive if you choose the latter! More on that in the next section… Brought to you by Georgia Divorces.
