Syfert Injury Law Firm
Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation
Call Now: 904-383-7448Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation
Call Now: 904-383-7448
(Code 1981, §19-8-9, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 4; Ga. L. 2007, p. 342, § 7/HB 497; Ga. L. 2016, p. 304, § 13/SB 64; 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, deleted "either a voluntary acknowledgment of legitimation pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) of subsection (g) of Code Section 19-7-22 or" following "authority to sign" in subsection (b) (formerly subsection (c)).
The 2018 amendment, effective September 1, 2018, deleted former subsection (a), which read: "In those cases where the legal mother of the child being placed for adoption has herself previously adopted such child, said adoptive mother shall execute, in lieu of the affidavit specified in subsection (g) of Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7, an affidavit meeting the requirements of subsection (i) of Code Section 19-8-26."; redesignated former subsection (b) as present subsection (a); substituted the present provisions of subsection (a) for the former provisions, which read: "A person signing a surrender pursuant to Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 shall have the right to withdraw the surrender by written notice delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery within ten days after signing; and the surrender document shall not be valid unless it so states. The ten days shall be counted consecutively beginning with the day immediately following the date the surrender is executed, however, if the tenth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday then the last day on which the surrender may be withdrawn shall be the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. After ten days, a surrender may not be withdrawn. The notice of withdrawal of surrender shall be delivered in person or mailed by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery to the address designated in the surrender document."; redesignated former subsection (c) as present subsection (b); and substituted the present provisions of subsection (b) for the former provisions, which read: "If a legal mother has voluntarily and in writing surrendered all of her parental rights pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of Code Section 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, or 19-8-7 and has not withdrawn her surrender within the ten-day period after signing as permitted by the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section, she shall have no right or authority to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 19-7-46.1 regarding the same child."
- Ga. L. 2016, p. 304, § 18/SB 64, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall not be construed to affect a voluntary acknowledgment of legitimation that was valid under the former provisions of Code Section 19-7-21.1, nor any of the rights or responsibilities flowing therefrom, if it was executed on or before June 30, 2016."
- For article, "Who is Georgia's Mother? Gestational Surrogacy: A Formulation for Georgia's Legislature," see 38 Ga. L. Rev. 395 (2003).
- Even though revocation of consent may be allowed more than ten days after consent is given, when the mother had acted freely and voluntarily and the trial court found her competent, the court did not err in finding that she failed to establish good and sufficient cause to void the surrender. Schumacher v. Sexton, 216 Ga. App. 628, 455 S.E.2d 348 (1995).
Parent may not revoke his or her valid surrender after 10 days; such limitation does not limit the right of a surrendering parent to establish that there was no valid, voluntary consent given initially. In re B.G.D., 224 Ga. App. 124, 479 S.E.2d 439 (1996).
Parent seeking to withdraw consent to adoption after 10 days must show duress, fraud, or incapacity, and then, as with all contracts, the consent is invalidated and the surrender becomes voidable. Hicks v. Stargel, 226 Ga. App. 639, 487 S.E.2d 428 (1997).
Mother did not revoke her surrender within the 10 days provided under O.C.G.A. § 19-8-9(b) (now (a)), and a later attempt to revoke her surrender was ineffective; without the transcript of the trial, the appellate court assumed that the evidence supported the trial court's factual finding that the mother showed no cause for invalidating the surrender. Ueal v. AAA Ptnrs. in Adoption, Inc., 269 Ga. App. 258, 603 S.E.2d 672 (2004).
- Based upon newly discovered evidence that the caseworker of a parent who surrendered parental rights was a friend of the foster parents and had engaged in fraud and other illegalities, the trial court properly restored the parent's parental rights pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 15-11-40(a)(3). Thus, O.C.G.A. § 19-8-9, requiring a parent to revoke a surrender within 10 days, did not prevent the surrenders from being voidable. In the Interest of K.W., 291 Ga. App. 623, 662 S.E.2d 255, cert. dismissed, No. S08C1642, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 767 (Ga. 2008).
- Even though the mother was under emotional and financial pressure when she made the decision to surrender her parental rights, that pressure did not constitute legal duress. Mabou v. Eller, 232 Ga. App. 635, 502 S.E.2d 760 (1998).
Cited in In the Interest of T.C.D., 281 Ga. App. 517, 636 S.E.2d 704 (2006).
No results found for Georgia Code 19-8-9.1.