It is the joint and several duty of each parent of a child born out of wedlock to provide for the maintenance, protection, and education of the child until the child reaches the age of 18 or becomes emancipated, except to the extent that the duty of one parent is otherwise or further defined by court order.
(Orig. Code 1863, § 1749; Code 1868, § 1789; Code 1873, § 1798; Code 1882, § 1798; Civil Code 1895, § 2508; Civil Code 1910, § 3027; Code 1933, § 74-202; Ga. L. 1972, p. 494, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 466, § 44; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1720, § 7; Ga. L. 2006, p. 141, § 5/HB 847.)
Cross references.- Parents' obligation to child, generally, § 19-7-2.
Law reviews.- For article on 2006 amendment of this Code section, see 23 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 79 (2006).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Statutory scheme relating to illegitimate children and remedies available to state require support from both parents and both are subject to criminal prosecution. Hudgins v. State, 243 Ga. 798, 256 S.E.2d 899 (1979).
Section not applicable to child born during marriage.
- Trial court erred in ordering the father to reimburse the mother for expenses because it was uncontested that the child was not born out of wedlock. Perkins v. Perkins, 347 Ga. App. 345, 819 S.E.2d 490 (2018).
Liability for period prior to paternity adjudication.
- Trial court erred in refusing to award back support to the mother of a child for those periods prior to an adjudication of paternity when she had been supporting the child without the benefit of public assistance payments. Weaver v. Chester, 195 Ga. App. 471, 393 S.E.2d 715 (1990).
Both parents are responsible for illegitimate child's support.
- Although under common law an illegitimate child was the legal responsibility only of the mother, the statute also made the father responsible for the child's support. Thorpe v. Collins, 245 Ga. 77, 263 S.E.2d 115 (1980).
Strict construction as to liability of father of illegitimate child.
- Statutes imposing liability on illegitimate child's father for child's support and education, being in derogation of common law, must be strictly construed. Washington v. Martin, 75 Ga. App. 466, 43 S.E.2d 590 (1947).
Support when alleged father is deceased.- Because at the time of father's death child's mother was in the process of establishing deceased as child's father for the purpose of obtaining child support and because father had responsibly fulfilled his child support obligations to his other child, the child had a reasonable expectation that the deceased father would fulfill his statutorily imposed obligation to support her as well. In re Adventure Bound Sports, Inc., 858 F. Supp. 1192 (S.D. Ga. 1994).
Civil action by mother of illegitimate child for child support.
- Mother of an illegitimate child may maintain a civil action to compel the father to support the child. Poulos v. McMahan, 250 Ga. 354, 297 S.E.2d 451 (1982); Evans v. State, 178 Ga. App. 1, 341 S.E.2d 865 (1986); Coxwell v. Matthews, 263 Ga. 444, 435 S.E.2d 33 (1993).
When there is an absent parent who does not provide support, and the payment of public assistance is for the support of both the dependent child and the custodial parent who is not able, without the benefit of public assistance, to provide support and maintenance for the child, it is inconsistent with both the goals of the Public Assistance Act and the Child Support Recovery Act to conclude that the payment of Aid to Families with Dependent Children imposes upon the custodial parent a debt due and owing the state under O.C.G.A. § 19-11-5. Cox v. Cox ex rel. State Dep't of Human Resources, 255 Ga. 6, 334 S.E.2d 683 (1985).
Adequate pre-natal medical care.
- Duty to protect and maintain a child includes the duty to ensure that the child receives adequate medical care prior to and during birth. Coxwell v. Matthews, 263 Ga. 444, 435 S.E.2d 33 (1993).
Health care insurance.
- In a mother's paternity suit to establish the legitimation, custody, and support of her minor child by the father, the trial court did not err in failing to require the father to pay for the child's health insurance under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-24 if not employed by the NFL. Jackson v. Irvin, 316 Ga. App. 560, 730 S.E.2d 48 (2012).
Cited in Sybilla v. Connally, 66 Ga. App. 678, 18 S.E.2d 783 (1942); Colson v. Huber, 74 Ga. App. 339, 39 S.E.2d 539 (1946); Gray v. Plummer, 87 Ga. App. 331, 73 S.E.2d 569 (1952); Pasley v. State, 215 Ga. 768, 113 S.E.2d 454 (1960); Clark v. Buttry, 121 Ga. App. 492, 174 S.E.2d 356 (1970); Simmons v. Chambliss, 128 Ga. App. 218, 196 S.E.2d 183 (1973); Warner v. Burke, 137 Ga. App. 185, 223 S.E.2d 234 (1976); Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 98 S. Ct. 549, 54 L. Ed. 2d 511 (1978); Parham v. Hughes, 441 U.S. 347, 99 S. Ct. 1742, 60 L. Ed. 2d 269 (1979); Nelson v. Taylor, 244 Ga. 657, 261 S.E.2d 579 (1979); State v. Causey, 246 Ga. 735, 273 S.E.2d 6 (1980); Mabry v. Tadlock, 157 Ga. App. 257, 277 S.E.2d 688 (1981); Worthington v. Worthington, 162 Ga. App. 813, 292 S.E.2d 861 (1982); Worthington v. Worthington, 250 Ga. 730, 301 S.E.2d 44 (1983); Pooler v. Taylor, 173 Ga. App. 859, 328 S.E.2d 749 (1985); Cox v. Department of Human Resources, 174 Ga. App. 377, 330 S.E.2d 120 (1985); Strickland v. State, 211 Ga. App. 48, 438 S.E.2d 161 (1993); Haddon v. Department of Human Resources, 220 Ga. App. 338, 469 S.E.2d 434 (1996); Department of Human Resources v. Mitchell, 232 Ga. App. 560, 501 S.E.2d 508 (1998).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 41 Am. Jur. 2d, Illegitimate Children, § 87 et seq.
C.J.S.- 14 C.J.S., Children Out-of-Wedlock, § 39 et seq.
ALR.
- Criminal responsibility for abandonment or nonsupport of children who are being cared for by charitable institution, 24 A.L.R. 1075.
Nonstatutory duty of father to support illegitimate child, 30 A.L.R. 1069.
Illegitimate child as within statute relating to duty to support child, 30 A.L.R. 1075.
Civil liability of father for necessaries furnished to child taken from home by mother, 32 A.L.R. 1466.
Liability of parent for necessaries furnished to adult child, 42 A.L.R. 150.
Criminal responsibility of parent under desertion or nonsupport statutes, as affected by child's possession of independent means, or by fact other persons supply his needs or are able to do so, 131 A.L.R. 482.
Construction and application of statute charging father and mother jointly with child's care and support, 131 A.L.R. 862.
Temporary allowance for support or costs pending action or proceeding for declaration of paternity of an illegitimate child, 136 A.L.R. 1264.
Award in bastardy proceedings as provable or dischargeable in bankruptcy, 162 A.L.R. 789.
Foreign filiation or support order in bastardy proceedings, requiring periodic payments, as extraterritorially enforceable, 16 A.L.R.2d 1098.
Maintainability of bastardy proceedings by infant prosecutrix in her own name and right, 50 A.L.R.2d 1029.
Right of nonresident mother to maintain bastardy proceedings, 57 A.L.R.2d 689.
Liability of mother's husband, not the father of her illegitimate child, for its support, 90 A.L.R.2d 583.
Nature of care contemplated by statute imposing general duty to care for indigent relatives, 92 A.L.R.2d 348.
Effect of marriage of woman to one other than defendant upon her right to institute or maintain bastardy proceeding, 98 A.L.R.2d 256.
Application, to illegitimate children, of criminal statutes relating to abandonment, and nonsupport of children, 99 A.L.R.2d 746.
Validity and construction of putative father's promise to support or provide for illegitimate child, 20 A.L.R.3d 500.
Power of divorce court, after child attained majority, to enforce by contempt proceedings payment of arrears of child support, 32 A.L.R.3d 888.
Right of child to enforce provisions for his benefit in parents' separation or property settlement agreement, 34 A.L.R.3d 1357.
Death of putative father as precluding action for determination of paternity or for child support, 58 A.L.R.3d 188.
Insurance: term "children" as used in beneficiary clause of life insurance policy as including illegitimate child, 62 A.L.R.3d 1329.
Validity, construction, and application of statute imposing upon stepparent obligation to support child, 75 A.L.R.3d 1129.
Parent's obligation to support unmarried minor child who refuses to live with parent, 98 A.L.R.3d 334.
Child's right of action for loss of support, training, parental attention, or the like, against third person negligently injuring parent, 11 A.L.R.4th 549.
Right to credit on child support payments for social security or other government dependency payments made for benefit of child, 34 A.L.R.5th 447.
What voluntary acts of child, other than marriage or entry into military service, terminate parent's obligation to support, 55 A.L.R.5th 557.
Liability of father for retroactive child support on judicial determination of paternity, 87 A.L.R.5th 361.