Georgia Divorce Laws
Georgia divorce laws support two grounds for filing for divorce - no-fault based grounds and fault based grounds. However regardless of the grounds for filing the divorce, testimonies or proof must be provided to the court to substantiate the reason, otherwise the court may throw the divorce petition out.
If children are involved in the divorce proceedings, the Georgia divorce laws take a somewhat different view when compared to laws of other states. For example, if the child is still a minor and yet aged 14 or above, the child has the right to choose with which parent s/he wants to live. The only reason why a court would overturn the childs decision is if the parent is deemed unfit to take custody.
If the child is under the age of 14 but aged 11 or above, and expresses a strong desire for one parent or the other, then the court will take this into consideration when making its decision to grant custody to one of the parents. For children under the age of 11, the court will decide custody, based on a number of factors.
Somewhat different from other states, the Georgia divorce laws also recognize the rights of grandparents with regard to visitations. In other words, when the case is before the courts, grandparents are allowed to give their input into questions regarding the custody of the children and visitation rights of the parent.
In the area of financial settlement, Georgia, like many other states, is regarded as an equitable distribution state. What this basically means is that if the two parties concerned are unable to reach a division of financial means outside of court, the court will allocate the financial debt and property between the two parties according to the state laws. Naturally if both parties concerned are able to reach a settlement agreeable by both sides out of court, this is a much easier and less complicated process than if it is left up to the court to decide.
For military members who are considering applying for divorce under Georgia divorce law, special rules and regulations can apply which can differ from a typical civilian divorce. Here I would advise to check the special Georgia Military divorce laws for more information.
Lastly, as with other states, Georgia divorce laws can change over a period of time, so if you are thinking about filing for a divorce under Georgia law, check that you have the most accurate, up to date details by reading the Georgia state statutes.
