By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
6 months in Georgia before filing, then 30 days from service on the no-fault ground. Georgia has no legal separation, but it does offer separate maintenance.
Georgia divorce follows its own rhythm — a required waiting period, a court that divides property by fairness rather than a formula, and rules about what stays yours no matter what.
| Residency requirement | At least one spouse must have been a bona fide Georgia resident for 6 months immediately before filing (O.C.G.A. §19-5-2). This is jurisdictional — the court cannot hear the case without it. |
|---|---|
| Grounds | 13 statutory grounds under O.C.G.A. §19-5-3. Most filers use the no-fault ground that the marriage is 'irretrievably broken.' Fault grounds (adultery, desertion, cruel treatment, habitual intoxication/drug addiction, incurable mental illness, and others) are also available. |
| Waiting period | 30 days from the date your spouse is served, required for the no-fault 'irretrievably broken' ground. Fault-based grounds don't carry this specific statutory wait but still go through the normal filing-to-judgment process. |
| Legal separation | Georgia has no legal separation, but it does offer separate maintenance — a superior court action based on voluntary separation or abandonment that can order custody, child support and spousal support. It generally does not divide marital property; that still takes a divorce. |
| If you were never married | Georgia stopped creating common-law marriages on 1 January 1997, but those validly formed before that date are expressly preserved and still recognised. A pre-1997 common-law marriage is a marriage, and ending it takes a divorce. |
| Where you file | File the Complaint for Divorce with the Clerk of Superior Court, generally in the county where the responding spouse (defendant) lives; if that spouse lives out of state, file in the county where you (the filer) live. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file your opening divorce document. Set locally by the county, not as one statewide rate. Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Complaint for Divorce (With Minor Children or Without Minor Children version), Verification, Domestic Relations Case Filing Information Form, and Summons. Add a Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit if children, alimony, or contested property division are involved, and a Settlement Agreement if you and your spouse already agree on terms. |
| Simplified option | Yes — Georgia Courts publishes separate uncontested-divorce packets ('Divorce Without Minor Children' and 'Divorce With Minor Children') for couples who agree on all issues, which skip trial and rely on a signed Settlement Agreement. Georgia has no separate 'legal separation' status; couples living apart without divorcing remain legally married unless they file a separate maintenance action. |
Keeping track of dates like these across a stack of letters is exactly what SortMyDivorce does — start a free trial, no card needed.
Georgia is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state. That means marital property — generally, what either spouse acquired during the marriage — is divided by what the court considers fair, which is not automatically a 50/50 split. Judges weigh factors like each spouse's contributions (including as a homemaker), the length of the marriage, and each person's financial situation going forward. This 'equitable' standard has developed mostly through Georgia case law rather than one detailed statute, so how it applies can vary noticeably by county and by judge.
Separate property generally stays separate. Assets either spouse owned before the marriage, along with gifts and inheritances received individually during the marriage, are typically not subject to division — as long as they were kept apart and not commingled with marital funds or retitled into joint names. Mixing separate money into a joint account or using it to improve a shared home is one of the most common ways people accidentally convert separate property into marital property, so it's worth thinking about now, before anything is filed.
Divorce actions in Georgia are filed in Superior Court, in the county where the defendant lives (or where the plaintiff lives, if the defendant lives out of state). At least one spouse generally must have lived in Georgia for a period before filing — confirm the current residency requirement with a local attorney or the court's self-help resources, since these thresholds occasionally get referenced differently across sources.
Georgia law does not let a divorce become final the moment it's filed. After the other spouse is served with the complaint, a minimum waiting period — commonly cited as 30 to 31 days — must pass before a judge can sign a final decree, even in a fully uncontested case where both sides agree on everything. That floor exists regardless of how quickly paperwork moves, so the waiting period is really a minimum, not a target; contested cases, or ones involving disputes over parenting or property, routinely take much longer.
Because the clock starts at service, the date of service is worth writing down and keeping proof of. It anchors response deadlines, the earliest possible finalization date, and often the timeline the other side's letters will reference. In an uncontested case, using the waiting period productively — finalizing a settlement agreement, gathering signatures, confirming parenting plan details — tends to shorten the overall time to a final decree far more than trying to rush the filing itself.
Start pulling together the paperwork that Georgia courts and both sides' lawyers will ask for regardless of how the case unfolds: recent tax returns, pay statements, statements for every bank, retirement, and investment account, mortgage and property tax records, and documentation of any significant debt. If part of your case rests on separate property — something you owned before the marriage, an inheritance, a gift — gather the original records that trace it: the account statement from before the wedding, the inheritance paperwork, whatever shows where the money came from and that it stayed apart from marital funds.
Keep a copy of every letter exchanged with the other side or their attorney from the very start, including the complaint and any proof of service. In Georgia's equitable-distribution framework, where 'fairness' is argued case by case, the paper trail of who proposed what, and when, often becomes central to settlement talks and, if needed, to a judge's decision.
Georgia courts decide custody and parenting time based on the best interests of the child, and children age 14 or older generally have a say in which parent they primarily live with, though a judge can weigh other factors too. Child support follows Georgia's statutory income shares guidelines, which combine both parents' incomes into a calculation — so accurate, documented income information for both sides matters early, especially if either parent is self-employed or paid irregularly.
Alimony in Georgia is not guaranteed and depends on factors including each spouse's financial needs and ability to pay, the length of the marriage, and — unlike in many states — conduct such as adultery can affect an alimony claim. Confirm how fault-related issues might apply to your situation with a Georgia family law attorney, since this is an area where the specifics genuinely change the outcome.
Georgia does not offer legal separation as such. What it offers instead is separate maintenance, filed in the superior court of the county where either spouse lives. It is available where the couple has separated voluntarily or one spouse has been abandoned.
A separate maintenance order can settle much of what a divorce settles — child custody, child support and spousal support — and once decided it binds both spouses. The important limit is property: a separate maintenance order is generally not the vehicle for dividing marital assets. Couples who need property divided usually have to go through a divorce to get there.
Separate maintenance leaves the marriage intact. Spouses can vacate the order and reconcile at any time, but neither can remarry without first obtaining a divorce.
Georgia's rule has a date in it. No common-law marriage can be entered into in the state on or after 1 January 1997. But the statute that abolished it expressly preserved the ones already made: a common-law marriage validly formed in Georgia before that date continues to be recognised.
That preserved group still matters. If your relationship began before 1997 and met the test at the time, you may be legally married — with all that follows, including the need for a divorce rather than simply parting, and a claim to property that an unmarried partner would not have.
For everyone since, Georgia offers unmarried partners very little. Length of cohabitation creates no property rights and no support obligation between partners, and separate maintenance — Georgia's substitute for legal separation, described above — is available to spouses, not to unmarried couples. Children are the exception: custody and child support are decided on the same basis whether or not the parents married. Georgia will also recognise a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that still creates them.
1) Before positions harden, quietly assemble your financial disclosure documents and, separately, anything tracing your separate property. 2) Get a consultation with a Georgia family law attorney early — even a single meeting to understand how equitable distribution and any fault issues might play out locally is worth it. 3) Once filed, mark the service date and count forward the minimum waiting period so you know the earliest realistic finalization date. 4) List marital versus separate assets honestly, flagging anything that may have been commingled. 5) Track every deadline and proposal that arrives by letter — in a system built on judicial discretion rather than a fixed formula, the record of who said what, and when, is often what settlement negotiations come back to.
At least one spouse must have lived in Georgia for the 6 months right before filing. Without this, the Superior Court has no jurisdiction to grant the divorce, regardless of other facts.
Most people file on the no-fault ground that the marriage is 'irretrievably broken,' which avoids having to prove fault. If you use one of the 12 fault grounds instead (such as adultery or cruel treatment), you'll need to be prepared to support it.
Use the 'Complaint for Divorce Without Minor Children' or 'Complaint for Divorce With Minor Children' form from Georgia Courts' self-help forms page, along with the required Verification page. If you and your spouse already agree on everything, prepare a signed, notarized Settlement Agreement to file alongside it.
Submit the Complaint to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where your spouse lives (or your own county if your spouse lives outside Georgia), along with the Domestic Relations Case Filing Information Form. Pay the filing fee, which is set by that county's clerk — ask them for the current amount.
Georgia requires proper service of the Complaint on your spouse, usually by sheriff or process server, unless they sign an Acknowledgment of Service to accept it voluntarily. The 30-day waiting period for a no-fault divorce begins on the date of service.
Your spouse has 30 days after service to file an Answer. If they don't respond and you filed on the no-fault ground, you can move toward a default judgment once the 30-day waiting period has passed.
If you agree on property division, support, and (if applicable) custody, finalize these in the Settlement Agreement and, where children are involved, a parenting plan. If you don't agree, the case proceeds as contested through discovery, possible mediation, and potentially a trial before a judge.
Once the paperwork is complete and any waiting period has passed, a judge reviews and signs the Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce, which legally ends the marriage. Keep certified copies for updating your name, benefits, and other records.
Not automatically. Georgia is an equitable distribution state, so courts divide marital property based on what they consider fair given each spouse's circumstances and contributions — which can be an even split, but often isn't. Confirm how this applies to your situation with a local attorney.
Generally, no — property owned before the marriage and gifts or inheritances received individually usually stay separate, as long as they weren't commingled with marital funds or retitled jointly. Keeping records that trace the property's origin matters if this becomes an issue.
No. Georgia requires a minimum waiting period after the other spouse is served — commonly cited as around 30 to 31 days — before a judge can sign a final decree, even when both spouses agree on every term.
Not under that name. Georgia offers separate maintenance instead, a superior court action based on voluntary separation or abandonment. It can set child custody, child support and spousal support, and it binds both spouses once ordered. It generally will not divide marital property, so couples who need assets divided typically still need a divorce. The marriage continues, so neither spouse can remarry without one.
Not for new relationships. Georgia stopped allowing common-law marriages to be entered into on or after 1 January 1997, but the statute preserved those validly formed before that date, and they are still recognised — a pre-1997 common-law marriage requires a divorce to end. Couples who came together after 1997 acquire no property rights or support obligations from living together, however long. Custody and child support apply regardless of marriage, and Georgia will recognise a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that still creates them.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For support with domestic violence, contact Georgia's 24-hour statewide hotline at 1-800-334-2836. Nationally you can also reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 if a call is not safe. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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