O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 19-9-69 (2019)

Information required as part of pleading or affidavit; continuing duty; sealing of information; children residing in family violence shelters

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

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.

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(a) In a child custody proceeding, each party, in its first pleading or in an attached affidavit, shall give information, if reasonably ascertainable, under oath as to the child’s present address or whereabouts, the places where the child has lived during the last five years, and the names and present addresses of the persons with whom the child has

lived during that period. The pleading or affidavit must state whether the party: (1) Has participated, as a party or witness or in any other capacity, in any other proceeding concerning the custody of or visitation with the child and, if so, identify the court, the case number, and the date of the child custody determination, if any; (2) Knows of any proceeding that could affect the current proceeding, including proceedings for enforcement and proceedings relating to family violence, protective orders, termination of parental rights, and adoptions and, if so, identify the court, the case number, and the nature of the proceeding; and (3) Knows the names and addresses of any person not a party to the proceeding who has physical custody of the child or claims rights of legal custody or physical custody of, or visitation with, the child and, if so, the names and addresses of those persons. (b) If the information required by subsection (a) of this Code section is not furnished, the court, upon motion of a party or its own motion, may stay the proceeding until the information is furnished. (c) If the declaration as to any of the items described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a) of this Code section is in the affirmative, the declarant shall give additional information under oath as required by the court. The court may examine the parties under oath as to details of the information furnished and other matters pertinent to the court’s jurisdiction and the disposition of the case. (d) Each party has a continuing duty to inform the court of any proceeding in this or any other state that could affect the current proceeding. (e) If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of identifying information, the information must be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public unless the court orders the disclosure to be made after a hearing in which the court takes into consideration the health, safety, or liberty of the party or child and determines that the disclosure is in the interest of justice. (f) In providing the information required by subsection (a) of this Code section, a party who is disclosing that the child is or has been a resident of a family violence shelter shall provide only the name of the shelter and the state in which the shelter is located to avoid a violation of Code Section 19-13-23. A disclosure of the name of the shelter and the state in which the shelter is located shall be sufficient for the purposes of subsection (a) of this Code section.

History

Code 1981, § 19-9-69, enacted by Ga. L. 2001, p. 129, § 1.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Claims of error made under O.C.G.A. § 19-9-69 unsupported absent a transcript. - In a change of custody proceeding, because: (1) a parent failed to allege that information was withheld which would have provided cause for a continuance; (2) nothing in the record showed that the parent moved for a continuance because the petition did not contain all the information required by

O.C.G.A. § 19-9-69(a); and (3) there was no evidence in the record that the trial court abused the court’s discretion under § 19-9-69(b) by not staying the proceedings on the court’s own motion until more information was furnished, no error resulted from the trial court’s denial of a stay of the proceedings. Jones v. Van Horn, 283 Ga. App. 144, 640 S.E.2d 712, 2006 Ga. App. LEXIS 1576 (2006).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2006–2022 · leading case: Barnhill v. Alford, 882 S.E.2d 245 (Ga. 2022).

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Barnhill v. Alford, 882 S.E.2d 245 (Ga. 2022). · cites it 11× “Finally, to the extent that a visitation petition may be considered a “child custody proceeding,” as used in OCGA § 19-9-69, then the Barnhills may have also violated state law.”

Jones v. Van Horn, 640 S.E.2d 712 (Ga. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 10× “Jones contends the trial court should have stayed the proceedings because Van Horn’s change of custody petition did not contain all the information required by OCGA § 19-9-69 (a) of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (OCGA § 19-9-40 et seq.”

Bellew v. Larese, 706 S.E.2d 78 (Ga. 2011). · cites it 2× “(b) Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 19-9-64, a court of this state, before hearing a child custody proceeding, shall examine the court documents and other information supplied by the parties pursuant to Code Section 19-9-69. If the court determines that a child…”

Lopez v. Olson, 724 S.E.2d 837 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 2× “appropriate venue in this state: (1) A letter or other document requesting registration; (2) Two copies, including one certified copy, of the determination sought to be registered, and a statement under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the…”

Croft v. Croft, 680 S.E.2d 150 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 19-9-66 (b) requires that [e]xcept as otherwise provided in Code Section 19-9-64, a *307 court of this state, before hearing a child custody proceeding, shall examine the court documents and other information supplied by the parties pursuant to Code Section 19-9-69. If…”

In Re Hadaway, 659 S.E.2d 863 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “Bibb Superior Court, Georgia, although the instant case and its companion case [in Wilkinson Superior Court], were res judicata on this issue, and the said new petition, although verified, failed to reveal honestly and in good faith to Bibb Superior Court about the instant…”

WONDIUM v. Getachew, 710 S.E.2d 139 (Ga. 2011). · cites it 2× “Husband contended that Wife’s failure to provide required information (see OCGA § 19-9-69) concerning the children’s custodians and residences for the five years preceding the divorce petition deprived the trial court of subject-matter jurisdiction, rendering the custody…”

Jonathan Kerr v. Stacey Wilson (Ga. Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “ody order, a litigant must file: (1) A letter or other document requesting registration; (2) Two copies, including one certified copy, of the determination sought to be registered, and a statement under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.