Jurisdiction; Administrative Determination of Paternity

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Domestic Relations
4. Parent and Child Relationship Generally
5. Determination of Paternity
6. Jurisdiction; Administrative Determination of Paternity

1. The superior and state courts of the several counties shall have concurrent jurisdiction in all proceedings for the determination of paternity of children who are residents of this state. The state courts shall have such concurrent jurisdiction notwithstanding any contrary provision of local law. Parties to an action to establish paternity shall not be entitled to a trial by jury.
2. Whenever the Department of Human Services seeks to establish paternity of a child, the Office of State Administrative Hearings shall have authority to adjudicate the issue of paternity, pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act"; provided, however, that if the putative father demands a trial in the superior court, it shall be the duty of the judge to cause an issue to be made and tried at the first session of the next term of court succeeding the putative father's demand for trial. The administrative determination shall have the same force and effect as a judicial decree.

(Code 1933, § 74-301, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1374, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1270, § 3; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1613, § 15; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-2/HB 228.)

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 1980, p. 1374, § 3, which enacted this article, provides that this article and the remedy provided herein are intended to be in addition to and cumulative of all other existing laws related to paternity, child support, or other subjects covered herein and that this article shall not be construed to limit the operation of or repeal any such existing law.

Law reviews.

- For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 121 (1997). For a note on the role of a judicial determination of paternity in the inheritance rights of illegitimate children in Georgia, see 16 Ga. L. Rev. 171 (1981).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Superior Court lacked jurisdiction under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-40 to hear a child's complaint that the defendant administrator's decedent was the child's father and the child was the sole heir to his estate; the case was not a paternity action, it was a matter of descent and distribution subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the probate court. Rodriguez v. Nunez, 252 Ga. App. 56, 555 S.E.2d 514 (2001).

Trial by jury.

- Retroactive application of the 1997 amendment, Ga. L. 1997, p. 1613, § 15, which extinguished the right to a jury trial in a paternity suit, was unconstitutional. Hargis v. Department of Human Resources, 272 Ga. 617, 533 S.E.2d 712 (2000).

O.C.G.A. § 19-7-40 expressly prohibited jury trials in paternity actions, and since the mother and former boyfriend consolidated a paternity action with a legitimation proceeding, which did allow for a jury trial, the right to a jury trial under the legitimation statute, O.C.G.A. § 19-7-22, had to give way because otherwise the goals of the paternity statute would be thwarted; accordingly, the mother had no right to a jury trial in the consolidated action. Banks v. Hopson, 275 Ga. 758, 571 S.E.2d 730 (2002).

Residency requirement.

- Georgia court does not have jurisdiction in a paternity action if neither the former husband, former wife, nor child are Georgia residents. Meredith v. Meredith, 257 Ga. 458, 360 S.E.2d 586 (1987).

O.C.G.A. § 19-7-40 does not limit paternity actions in Georgia to cases in which the child is a Georgia resident. Rather, the section broadens the jurisdiction to allow an action on behalf of a child who is a resident against a putative father who is a nonresident. Jones v. Alfone, 261 Ga. 258, 404 S.E.2d 119 (1991).

Cited in Allen v. Howard, 185 Ga. App. 758, 365 S.E.2d 546 (1988); Crowther v. Estate of Crowther, 258 Ga. App. 498, 574 S.E.2d 607 (2002).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

No right to a jury trial exists in a civil action for the establishment of paternity. 1997 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97-5.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 41 Am. Jur. 2d, Illegitimate Children, §§ 40, 41.

C.J.S.

- 14 C.J.S., Children Out-of-Wedlock, §§ 72, 77, 98, 124.

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