O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27 (2019)

DNA testing for kinship; procedure; costs

✓ 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) When the kinship of any party in interest to a decedent is in controversy in any proceeding under this article, a probate court or superior court may order the removal and testing of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from the remains of the decedent and from any party in interest whose kinship to the decedent is in controversy for purposes of comparison and determination of the statistical likelihood of such kinship. The court may order the disinterment of the decedent’s remains if reasonably necessary to obtain such samples. (b) The order may be made only on motion for good cause shown and upon notice to all parties in interest and shall specify the time, place, manner, conditions, and scope of the removal and testing of samples, and the person or persons by whom it is to be made. Such motion, when made by a party in interest, shall be supported by affidavit setting forth: (1) The factual basis for a reasonable belief that the party in interest whose kinship to the decedent is in controversy is or is not so related; and (2) If disinterment of the decedent’s remains is sought, the factual basis for a reasonable belief that reliable DNA samples from the

decedent are not otherwise reasonably available from any other source. (c) Upon request, the movant shall deliver to all parties in interest a copy of a detailed written report of the tester and of any other expert involved in the determination of such statistical likelihood setting out his or her findings, including the results of all tests made and conclusions or opinions based thereon. (d) The costs of obtaining and testing of such samples, including the costs of disinterment and reinterment of the remains of the decedent, if necessary, as well as the costs of providing the report, shall be assessed against and paid by the moving party.

History

Code 1981, § 53-2-27, enacted by Ga. L. 2002, p. 1081, § 1; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-3/HB 865. The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), inserted ‘‘probate court or’’ in the first sentence, deleted ‘‘superior’’ preceding ‘‘court’’ in the second sentence, and deleted the last sentence which read: ‘‘If the proceedings are pending in the probate court, the motion

shall be transferred to the superior court for determination.’’

Annotations

Law reviews. - For annual survey of law on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 365 (2010). For note on the 2002 enactment of this Code section, see 19 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 347 (2002).

ARTICLE 3 DISTRIBUTION OF ESTATE IN KIND

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2009–2023 · leading case: In Re Est. of Stanley Isaac Hardy (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).
In Re Est. of Stanley Isaac Hardy (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 2× “pursuant to OCGA § 53-2-27. Tiffani Hardy then filed this interlocutory appeal, arguing that the probate court’s order was directly appealable under the collateral order doctrine.”
In Re Est. of Marvin Mobley, Jr. (Ga. Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “” “‘Clear and convincing evidence’ is an intermediate standard of proof, greater than ‘the preponderance of evidence,’ but less than the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard applicable in criminal cases.”
In Re Est. of Warren, 685 S.E.2d 411 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 2× “See OCGA § 53-2-27 (allowing court order to obtain DNA samples from the remains of a decedent and ‘‘from any party in interest whose kinship to the decedent is in controversy”).”
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.