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(Code 1981, §19-8-13, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1640, §§ 4, 5; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 19; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1686, § 6; Ga. L. 2000, p. 20, § 13; Ga. L. 2011, p. 573, § 4/SB 172; Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 4-27/HB 242; Ga. L. 2016, p. 87, § 2/HB 229; Ga. L. 2018, p. 19, § 1-1/HB 159.)
- For information as to the delayed amendment of this article, see the delayed effective date note at the beginning of this article.
The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, substituted the present provisions of subsection (f) for the former provisions, which read: "Whenever a petitioner is a blood relative of the child to be adopted and a grandparent other than the petitioner has visitation rights to the child granted pursuant to Code Section 19-7-3, the petitioner shall cause a copy of the petition for adoption to be served upon the grandparent with the visitation rights or upon such person's counsel of record."
The 2018 amendment, effective September 1, 2018, rewrote this Code section.
- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1990, "acknowledgment" was substituted for "acknowledgement" in subparagraph (a)(5)(B).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2018, a period that was inadvertently deleted was added at the end of subparagraph (h)(1)(C).
- Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 5-1/HB 242, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2014, and shall apply to all offenses which occur and juvenile proceedings commenced on and after such date. Any offense occurring before January 1, 2014, shall be governed by the statute in effect at the time of such offense and shall be considered a prior adjudication for the purpose of imposing a disposition that provides for a different penalty for subsequent adjudications, of whatever class, pursuant to this Act. The enactment of this Act shall not affect any prosecutions for acts occurring before January 1, 2014, and shall not act as an abatement of any such prosecutions."
- For article surveying developments in Georgia domestic relations law from mid-1980 through mid-1981, see 33 Mercer L. Rev. 109 (1981). For article, "Continuing Confusion in the Georgia Adoption Process," see 20 Ga. St. B.J. 62 (1983).
- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under Ga. L. 1941, p. 300, § 4, Ga. L. 1977, p. 201, and former § 19-8-8, as last amended by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1516, § 2, are included in the annotations for this Code section.
- In adoption proceedings, best interest of child is always a prime factor to be considered. Davey v. Evans, 156 Ga. App. 698, 275 S.E.2d 769 (1980) (decided under Ga. L. 1977, p. 201).
- There is no requirement that guardian must be appointed before adoption is legally permissible. Davey v. Evans, 156 Ga. App. 698, 275 S.E.2d 769 (1980) (decided under Ga. L. 1977, p. 201).
- When petitioners for an adoption learned that the man named by the child's biological mother in her affidavit as the father was excluded by DNA evidence, they amended the petition to state that the mother did not know the father's identity, and the mother so testified at trial. This cured any problem with the petition and the mother's affidavit. Blount v. Knighton, 298 Ga. App. 448, 680 S.E.2d 522 (2009).
- Trial court erred in denying the mother's and adoptive father's request to change the child's surname from the deceased father's name to the adoptive father's name, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13(a)(1)(B). Evans v. Sangster, 330 Ga. App. 533, 768 S.E.2d 278 (2015).
Factual error in adoption petition in no way deprives court of subject matter jurisdiction. Burrell v. Wood, 237 Ga. 162, 227 S.E.2d 60 (1976) (decided prior to revision of by Ga. L. 1977, p. 201).
- Although when appellees filed their petition for adoption, their marriage certificate was not attached, it was supplied by amendment which related back to the date the pleading was filed, thus curing omission from the petition. Owens v. Worley, 163 Ga. App. 488, 295 S.E.2d 199 (1982) (decided under former § 19-8-8, as last amended by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1516, § 2).
- That a petition for adoption failed to contain the petitioners' marriage license as required by O.C.G.A. § 19-8-13(a)(3)(G) (now (a)(3)(F)) did not invalidate the adoption as the petitioners testified as to the date of their marriage and presented the license at trial. Blount v. Knighton, 298 Ga. App. 448, 680 S.E.2d 522 (2009).
Defects in an adoption petition regarding the name, age, marital status, and residence of the petitioners, the affidavit of the adoptive parents' legal representative, and information pertaining to the circumstances of the adoption, were timely cured by amendment. Mabou v. Eller, 232 Ga. App. 635, 502 S.E.2d 760 (1998).
- Apart from a single reference to O.C.G.A. § 19-8-10(b)(2), the adoption petition was devoid of any factual allegations demonstrating the applicability of that statute as statutorily required and, thus, it did not put the parent on notice of what allegations the parent needed to be prepared to defend against in order to show cause why the parent's rights should not be terminated by allowing the adoption. Johnson v. Hauck, 344 Ga. App. 848, 812 S.E.2d 303 (2018).
- Reversal of an order granting a petition was required because the petition failed to include the affidavit of the legal mother, allegation of compliance with O.C.G.A. § 19-8-12, birth certificate of the child, marriage certificate of the custodial parents, and background information regarding the child. Spires v. Tarleton, 225 Ga. App. 117, 483 S.E.2d 337 (1997).
- Former provisions granted broad discretion to the trial court in determining whether there have been improper financial transactions associated with adoption. Owens v. Worley, 163 Ga. App. 488, 295 S.E.2d 199 (1982) (decided under former § 19-8-8, as last amended by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1516, § 2); Messer v. Marchman, 205 Ga. App. 364, 422 S.E.2d 250 (1992); Lee v. Stringer, 212 Ga. App. 401, 441 S.E.2d 861 (1994), overruled on other grounds, 224 Ga. App. 124, 479 S.E.2d 439 (1996).
- Foster parents did not have standing to pursue an adoption of a foster child that had been living happily with the child's grandmother for three years because the biological parents did not surrender their rights in favor of the foster parents under O.C.G.A. § 19-8-5, and the Foster Parent's Bill of Rights, O.C.G.A. § 49-5-281, did not grant adoption rights. Additionally, the Department of Human Services was required to consent to any adoption. Owen v. Watts, 303 Ga. App. 867, 695 S.E.2d 62, cert. denied, U.S. , 131 S. Ct. 156, 178 L. Ed. 2d 93 (2010).
Cited in Prince v. Black, 256 Ga. 79, 344 S.E.2d 411 (1986); Smallwood v. Davis, 292 Ga. App. 173, 664 S.E.2d 254 (2008).
- 2 Am. Jur. 2d, Adoption, § 114.
1B Am. Jur. Pleading and Practice Forms, Adoption, §§ 2 et seq., 114 et seq.
- 2 C.J.S., Adoption of Persons, §§ 81, 82.
No results found for Georgia Code 19-8-13.1.