O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 29-9-15 (2019)

(For effective date, see note.) Compensation for legal counsel or guardian ad litem

✓ 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 connection with any proceeding brought pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 11 of this title, unless voluntarily waived, the court shall award reasonable fees and expenses, commensurate with the tasks performed and time devoted to the proceeding, including any appeals, to any legal counsel or guardian ad litem who is appointed by the court pursuant to the provisions of said chapters or Code Section 29-9-2.

(b) In connection with any proceeding brought pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 11 of this title, unless voluntarily waived, the court may award reasonable fees and expenses, commensurate with the tasks performed and time devoted to the proceeding, including any appeals, to any legal counsel who is retained by or on behalf of a minor, a proposed ward, a ward, the petitioner(s), or any other party to any proceeding brought pursuant to the provisions of said chapters. As directed by the court in the exercise of its sound discretion and as the court may deem to be in the best interest of the minor, proposed ward, or ward who is the subject of the particular proceeding.

(c) All fees and expenses awarded under subsection (a) or (b) of this Code section shall be assessed and paid in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 29-9-3.

History

(Code 1981, § 29-9-15, enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1; Ga. L. 2019, p. 693, § 29/HB 70.)

Annotations

Delayed effective date. - This Code section, as set out above, becomes effective January 1, 2020. For version of this Code section in effect until January 1, 2020, see the 2019 amendment note.

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, substituted the present provisions of this Code section for the former provisions, which read: "Any legal counsel or guardian ad litem who is appointed by the court in a guardianship or conservatorship proceeding shall be awarded reasonable fees commensurate with the tasks performed and time devoted to the proceeding, including any appeals."

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes. - In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former O.C.G.A. § 29-5-13 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

"Expenses" in former O.C.G.A. § 29-5-13(a) are not expenses of litigation but rather are tantamount to "costs" incurred in a judicial proceeding brought pursuant to former O.C.G.A. Title 29, Chapter 5. In re Olliff, 184 Ga. App. 846, 363 S.E.2d 158 (1987), aff'd, 258 Ga. 157, 366 S.E.2d 289 (1988) (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 29-5-13).

Individual who successfully defended against a petition for guardianship was not entitled to recover expenses and attorney's fees under former O.C.G.A. § 29-5-13. In re Olliff, 184 Ga. App. 846, 363 S.E.2d 158 (1987), aff'd, 258 Ga. 157, 366 S.E.2d 289 (1988) (decided under former O.C.G.A. § 29-5-13).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S. - 39 C.J.S., Guardian and Ward, §§ 114, 225, 226, 273.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 2019–2019 · leading case: In Re Est. of Wertzer., 826 S.E.2d 168 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).
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In Re Est. of Wertzer., 826 S.E.2d 168 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 6× “While Grace recognizes that OCGA § 29-9-15 may authorize an award of reasonable fees to a court-appointed GAL, she contends that it does not authorize the probate court to award those fees against the guardian of the ward.”
In re Est. of Phillips, 830 S.E.2d 398 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 16× “For the reasons discussed below, we find that the probate court did not err in finding that *890 OCGA § 29-9-15 does not authorize the payment of attorney fees from the estate of a ward to privately retained counsel, and that our prior holdings in Olliff and Connell remain sound.”
In Re Est. of Mary Elizabeth Phillips (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 14× “For the reasons discussed below, we find that the probate court did not err in finding that OCGA § 29-9-15 does not authorize the payment of attorney fees from the estate of a ward to privately retained counsel, and that our prior holdings in Olliff and Connell remain sound.”
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.