Georgia Divorce Forms & Papers

Divorce Papers > Georgia Divorce Forms & Papers

Getting a divorce in the state of Georgia is not very difficult. There are no stringent rules of filing a decree in Georgia unless you meet the residential requirements of the state. You need not get married in Georgia to get separated in the state. Georgia still recognizes common law marriages; however, since the legal system does not permit common law marriages, dissolution of marriage has to be declared. Filing a separation in Georgia can be easy with the advent of technology and the information found online. Marriage dissolution forms and papers can be easily obtained on a reliable website for the state of Georgia. One should however consult a good lawyer to know the exact process of filing a petition to save time and money.

Residential Requirement for filing a petition for separation

The spouse, who files for the dissolution of marriage, must have been a resident of Georgia for 6 months. The decree needs to be filed at the county of residence; however, a non-resident may file for decree against a spouse who has been a resident of Georgia for 6 months. In such cases, the dissociation must be filed for in the county in which the respondent resides. [Code of Georgia Annotated; Title 30, Section 107]. For more information on filing a separation see our page on steps for filing a divorce.

Grounds for filing a decree:

The only no-fault ground for dissolution of marriage by the State of Georgia is irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. [Code of Georgia Annotated; Title 30, Section 102].

On the other hand the grounds for a fault based decree could be, adultery, impotence, imprisonment conviction for 2 years and over pertaining any offense related to moral turpitude, drug or alcoholism addiction, insanity, mental illness, desertion, inhuman or cruel treatment, marriage done by fraud or force, mental incapability of spouse to give consent, incest or if the wife was pregnant during marriage by someone else without the knowledge of the husband.

Do It Yourself Decree:

When doing a separation all by yourself, one should have sound knowledge of law or at least know the residential requirements of the state or the county where you wish to file a legal separation. In most cases spouses fie for a no-fault divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. This helps them to avoid going through strenuous sessions to prove the spouse's fault and dig out the dirty laundry you have been living with for a while. No matter what the grounds are for filing a petition for separation, one can do an agreed decree or a default decree.

An agreed separation is when both the spouses agree for the separation. It is signed by both the parties and the terms and conditions are agreed upon by them. This kind of decree is quite common in Georgia as most partners go for this type of a separation. Terms such as property distribution, child custody and child support are some of the factors that is been agreed upon by both the parties.

A default separation on the other hand is not signed by both the parties. The entire process of dissolution is carried by one of the spouses whereas the other spouse's consent is taken as default. This kind of a separation is mostly done when the spouse is missing or if he/she does not respond to the court notifications or the hearings. The spouse filing for a separation in this case usually gets everything that she is liable to get as per court orders without any disputes.

In case of missing spouse, the spouse filing for a dissolution of marriage has to spend extra charges on putting an advertisement in the newspaper, in a bid to find the show the court that the efforts to trace the spouse has been exhausted.

USE THESE WORDS IN THE COURT DOCUMENTS FOR GEORGIA

Use these exact words, all in capital letters: IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF COUNTY, GEORGIA
Use these exact words, all in capital letters: PETITION FOR DIVORCE
Use the word "Petitioner". Be sure the "P" is capitalized.
Use the word "Respondent". Be sure the "R" is capitalized.
Use these exact words, all in capital letters: FINAL JUDGMENT AND DECREE OF DIVORCE
Use the word "County" here.

For detailed divorce laws in Georgia state, please see Georgia Divorce Laws page.

Free Georgia Divorce Forms for Download

Following divorce forms are free for download. Most of the forms are provided with instructions on how to fill the form. To download any of these divorce papers and forms just right click on the link and select "Save As...".