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Divorce in Baldwin County, Georgia: costs, court rules and local help

Checked · General information, not legal advice ·

Summary

Divorces in Baldwin County are filed with the Baldwin County Superior Court. The filing fee is $208, and sheriff service is $50 per copy served.

  • The clerk's office in Milledgeville is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and handles Superior, State and Juvenile Court cases. Legal notices run in The Union Recorder.1
  • You can request certified copies online through the state clerks' eCertification service and look up Baldwin civil and criminal cases in the clerk's online case search.2
  • In Baldwin, motion days are Fridays. For a hearing held by video, cases and paperwork must reach the clerk and the judge's office by noon on Wednesday, two business days before.3
  • Baldwin is the largest of the eight counties in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, which shares one set of divorce rules.4

Where to file

Baldwin County Clerk of Superior Court
121 N. Wilkinson Street, Suite 209
Milledgeville, GA 31061
Phone: 478-445-40071

Filing fee

$208 to file. Sheriff service: $50 per copy served.5

Parenting class

The Ocmulgee Circuit's March 2021 standing order ended the rule that divorcing parents must attend a parenting seminar to get a divorce, and rescinded the earlier orders that required one.3

Mediation

Georgia's official directory of court-connected mediation programs lists none serving Baldwin County, and the Ocmulgee Circuit's standing order for divorce cases contains no mediation requirement.6

Court forms

The Ocmulgee Circuit posts free packets for contested and uncontested divorces, with and without minor children, plus checklists, a parenting plan, a pauper's packet for filing without paying and a service by publication packet. Go to the forms.7

Standing order

The circuit's standing order binds both spouses in every divorce, and the spouse who files must file it in the case. It bars harassing the other spouse or the children, selling or moving the couple's property outside the ordinary course of business, changing insurance without the other's written consent, taking the children out of Georgia except for ordinary family trips (with written trip details to the other parent), and changing their school or day care unless the separation makes it necessary.3

Also good to know

Baldwin's cost schedule lists other charges that can come up in a divorce:

  • Publishing a divorce notice in the newspaper, when your spouse can't be found or served: $80.
  • Certified copy of a court record, such as the final decree: $2.50 for the first page and 50 cents for each page after.
  • Uncertified copies: 50 cents a page.
  • A family violence case: no filing fee.

A request to change an order filed 30 or more days after the judgment needs a new case number and costs $58.5

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit rules

Baldwin County shares its Superior Court judges and divorce rules with Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson counties. The circuit's page has the full standing order, the mediation and parenting seminar rules, and the circuit's other divorce rules.

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit divorce rules

Free and low-cost help in Baldwin County

  • Circle of Love Center. A state-certified family violence program based in Greensboro serving Baldwin, Greene, Morgan, Putnam and Hancock counties. The number below is its crisis line; its office is 706-453-7135.
    Phone: 706-453-40178
  • Georgia Legal Services Program. Free civil legal help, including family law, for people with low incomes in 154 of Georgia's 159 counties. Apply online or call the intake line.
    Phone: 833-457-75299

If you need an interpreter

If you or a witness needs an interpreter, including sign language, tell the court in writing before the hearing, at least 5 days ahead where you can. The court then works to provide a licensed interpreter at its own expense.10

Baldwin County Superior Court website

Sources

  1. ^ Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, Baldwin County clerk directory entry: key points and address and phone (gsccca.org)
  2. ^ Baldwin County, Clerk of Superior Court (baldwincountyga.com)
  3. ^ Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, standing order with exhibits, March 2021 (PDF): key points, parenting class and standing order (eighthdistrict.org, PDF)
  4. ^ Jones County Clerk of Superior Court, the courts (jonescountyclerkofcourt.org)
  5. ^ Baldwin County Superior Court cost schedule, effective July 1, 2024 (PDF): filing fees and other court rules (baldwincountyga.com)
  6. ^ Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, program directory (godr.org)
  7. ^ Eighth Judicial Administrative District, Ocmulgee Circuit forms (eighthdistrict.org)
  8. ^ Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, state-certified family violence agencies (PDF) (cjcc.georgia.gov)
  9. ^ Georgia Legal Services Program, what we do (glsp.org)
  10. ^ Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.3, interpreters (gasupreme.us)

Court fees and rules change. Check with the clerk before you file. If something here looks out of date, email help@divorce.city.

Next step if you both agreeUncontested divorce in Georgia, step by stepHow an uncontested divorce works in Georgia, in order: checking you qualify, the settlement agreement, the forms, filing, service, the 30-day wait and the final decree.

Nearby counties

Fees and court rules differ from county to county. Guides for neighboring counties: Jones County and Putnam County.

Baldwin County also borders Hancock, Washington and Wilkinson counties. Their clerks are listed on the Georgia page.

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