You must file for divorce with the county Clerk of the Superior Court. You can find an attorney by visiting the Georgia State Bar Association website. You must file for divorce with the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where you or your spouse have lived for at least 6 months. You'll start by filing a petition for divorce, or a petition for divorce, stating the legal reasons for the divorce and the issues you want the court to address.
In Georgia, you don't need to be represented by a divorce attorney. However, because the process can be complicated, you would almost certainly make a big mistake trying to handle it on your own. This is especially true if your spouse hires an attorney. Without a thorough understanding of Georgia's divorce laws, it's impossible to achieve an optimal outcome. In Georgia, you don't need to be represented by an attorney in a divorce action.
When one of the parties does not have an attorney and represents themselves, the party is called pro se. While several metropolitan counties have resources available to help pro se people who are processing a divorce, we strongly recommend that you consult the resources on the Fulton County Family Law Division's website, even if your divorce is in another county, because these particular pages have many services to help the party. However, depending on the complexity of the case, representing yourself could be a very bad idea, and the outcome could be much more costly than hiring an attorney. If you don't have an attorney, then you represent yourself in court and file for a pro se divorce.
Find the divorce forms and instructions on the Georgia court website (the links are to fillable PDFs that may not be fully accessible). Some courts have a specific pro se section that will help you. The next step in the process is to develop and mutually agree on all the points of a divorce settlement agreement. If only the defendant spouse (not filing) lives in Georgia, the divorce must be filed in the county where the defendant lives. The reality of an uncontested divorce in Georgia is six months to a year from the filing of the application to the receipt of the final judgment.
After filing for divorce on the grounds that your marriage is irretrievably broken, Georgia law requires the court to wait at least 31 days after the defendant's notification before granting a divorce. Divorce is a costly endeavor, and the costs can vary widely depending on many factors and complexities. In uncontested divorces, both parties accept the terms of the divorce, such as child custody, division of property, or alimony. Beyond the filing fee, your costs will depend on whether it's a purely self-made divorce or if you need help with the process.
If you and your spouse can agree on how to manage the legal, financial and practical details necessary to end your marriage, you can save money and time by obtaining an unopposed divorce (sometimes called a full divorce) in Georgia. You can then file your divorce application and other necessary documents, including the settlement agreement, at the Clerk of the Superior Court's office in the county where you or your spouse live. And you may also be concerned, with good reason, about how much it would cost to hire an attorney to handle your divorce case. When you file for an unopposed divorce in Georgia, you must indicate in your divorce application that the marriage is irretrievably broken, Georgia's only ground for a no-fault divorce.
The Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court will process your petition and the formal divorce documents will be delivered to your spouse. This is because many couples can go through the divorce process unopposed without hiring lawyers to represent them, which represents a great savings in the normal cost of divorce. In short, if you and your spouse can work together and reach agreements without an attorney, an uncontested divorce will be much more cost-effective and less contentious.
