O.C.G.A.
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act of 1978.”
History
Ga. L. 1978, p. 1957, § 1.
Annotations
Law reviews. For annual survey of domestic relations cases, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 173 (2005).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Custody act not applicable. - Boyfriend, who had been appointed temporary guardian of child, was not the child’s “legal custodian” as that term was used in the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-9-20 et seq., and, thus, the provisions of the Act, including the Act’s venue provisions, did not apply; accordingly, the trial court erred in dismissing the grandmother’s petition for custody of the child on the ground that venue was not proper in the county where
the mother was incarcerated but would have been proper where the temporary guardian, the boyfriend, resided, as application of the general venue rules governing venue in civil cases, contained in the Georgia Constitution, showed that since the mother was a necessary party to the grandmother’s custody action, filing the action in the county where the mother was incarcerated was proper. Gordon v. Gordon, 269 Ga. App. 224, 603 S.E.2d 732, 2004 Ga. App. LEXIS 1121 (2004).
RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. Extraterritorial effect of provision in decree of divorce as to custody of child, 20
A.L.R. 815; 72 A.L.R. 441; 116 A.L.R. 1299; 160 A.L.R. 400.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
18
cases, 1984–2016 · leading case:
Dunbar v. ERTTER, 718 S.E.2d 350 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011).
Dunbar v. ERTTER, 718 S.E.2d 350 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011).
· cites it 8× “[3] We note that the superior court action was not brought in Cobb County pursuant to the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act (OCGA § 19-9-20 et seq.) because that Act directs where complaints must be filed which seek a change of custody by or against the "legal…”
Dallow v. Dallow, 791 S.E.2d 20 (Ga. 2016).
· cites it 2× “5 Subsection (a) requires that any complaint seeking to change which parent has the majority of parenting time must be brought as a separate action in that primary physical custodian’s county of residence.”
In the Interest of J. P., 480 S.E.2d 8 (Ga. 1997).
· cites it 2× “In contrast, child custody orders requiring an application to appeal under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (2), “include those entered as part of a divorce case or pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act of 1978 [OCGA § 19-9-40 et seq.”
Douglas v. Douglas, 678 S.E.2d 904 (Ga. 2009).
· cites it 4× “OCGA § 19-9-20 et seq. Prior to passage of the Act, habeas corpus was an appropriate process by which to seek a change of child custody.”
Daust v. Daust, 418 S.E.2d 409 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).
· cites it 4× “See Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act of 1978, codified in OCGA § 19-9-20 et seq. The trial court further acknowledged the principle that actions for custody are to be brought in the county of residence of the legal custodian.”
Saravia v. Mendoza, 695 S.E.2d 47 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010).
· cites it 2× “10 In her brief, Mendoza argues that this Code section, which is part of the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act (see OCGA § 19-9-20), does not apply to her; instead, she asserts that her case would be governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and…”
Oglesby v. Deal, 716 S.E.2d 749 (Ga. Ct. App. 2011).
· cites it 2× “6 We note that the question of venue cannot be answered by the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act, OCGA § 19-9-20 et seq., which “addresses only where complaints seeking a change of custody which are filed by or against the legal custodian of the child should be…”
Gordon v. Gordon, 603 S.E.2d 732 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004).
· cites it 2× “We begin by noting that this question cannot be answered by reference to the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act, OCGA § 19-9-20 et seq. That Act addresses only where complaints seeking a change of custody which are filed by or against the legal custodian of the…”
Baker v. Ashburn, 347 S.E.2d 660 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986).
· cites it 2× “proceedings for alimony, child support, or division of property in connection with an action for divorce or with respect to an independent action for support of dependents.”
Hammontree v. Hammontree, 368 S.E.2d 576 (Ga. Ct. App. 1988).
· cites it 2× “Word, supra; Davis v. Davis, supra. Jurisdiction to bring a complaint for change of custody is not lacking in this case because the contempt proceeding was brought in the county in which the appellant wife resides.”
Upchurch v. Smith, 635 S.E.2d 710 (Ga. 2006).
· cites it 2× “…part of the Georgia Child Custody Intrastate Jurisdiction Act and has no application to out-of-state defendants. See OCGA §§ 19-9-20, 19-9-21.”
Bullington v. Bullington, 351 S.E.2d 700 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986).
· cites it 2× “Indeed, rather than reading OCGA § 19-9-22 (2) as implicitly approving the extension of a person’s visitation rights to the point where he/she becomes the legal custodian, the statute can only be read as explicitly designed to prevent such circumvention of the Georgia Child…”
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