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

Checked · General information, not legal advice ·

Summary

Divorces in Catoosa County are filed with the Catoosa County Superior Court. The current filing fee isn’t posted online, so ask the clerk. Counties that post theirs charge $208 to $224.

  • The clerk's office in the Catoosa County Courthouse in Ringgold is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, except legal holidays and mandatory training hours. It handles Superior, State and Juvenile Court cases, and legal notices run in the Catoosa County News.1
  • The Seventh Judicial Administrative District's mediation office (770-387-4820) handles mediation for the circuit. You and your spouse agree on a mediator from its roster, or the office assigns one. Mediators average $100 to $200 an hour, split equally and paid at the session, and you can apply for a fee waiver before the session.2
  • Catoosa shares its Superior Court judges and divorce rules with Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.3

Where to file

Catoosa County Clerk of Superior Court
Catoosa County Courthouse, 875 Lafayette Street
Ringgold, GA 30736
Phone: 706-935-42311

Filing fee

The clerk doesn't post its divorce filing fee or sheriff service fee online, so call the clerk at 706-935-4231 before you file. For comparison, Georgia counties that post their fee charge between $208 and $224 to file a divorce. Compare counties.4

Parenting class

In cases with minor children, each parent must complete a court-approved co-parenting seminar within 31 days: the spouse who files counts from filing, the other from service. Attend the whole seminar and file proof with the clerk.5

Mediation

Contested cases must finish mediation within 90 days after service, or within six months if both spouses agree in writing, unless the court waives it. Mediation isn't required when domestic violence is alleged, unless the court assigns the case to a qualified mediator.5

Court forms

The circuit posts free forms for uncontested divorces with and without minor children, including a financial affidavit and a motion for service by publication. Go to the forms.6

Standing order

The circuit's standing order applies to every divorce filed since January 1, 2026, and the clerk rejects a new filing that doesn't attach it. While the case is open, neither spouse may sell or hide property, cut off the other's utilities, change the family's insurance, keep the children out of Georgia for more than eight days or move them to another school, or harass the other.5

Also good to know

Once the divorce is final, you can order certified copies of court records, such as your decree, through the Catoosa clerk's eCertification service, which takes requests online 24 hours a day.7

Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit rules

Catoosa County shares its Superior Court judges and divorce rules with Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties. The circuit's page has the full standing order, the mediation and parenting seminar rules, and the circuit's other divorce rules.

Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit divorce rules

Free and low-cost help in Catoosa County

  • Family Crisis Center of Walker, Dade, Catoosa & Chattooga Counties. A state-certified family violence program based in LaFayette, serving Catoosa along with Walker, Dade and Chattooga. The number below is its crisis line; its office is 706-375-7180.
    Phone: 706-375-76308
  • 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. In this circuit, send the Interpreter Request Form to the court administrators at least 10 business days before the hearing.10, 3

Catoosa County Superior Court website

Sources

  1. ^ Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, Catoosa County clerk directory entry: key points and address and phone (gsccca.org)
  2. ^ Seventh Judicial Administrative District, Superior Court mediation (7jad.com)
  3. ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, home page: key points and interpreters (lmjc.net)
  4. ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, Catoosa County Superior Court Clerk (lmjc.net)
  5. ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, standing order in domestic relations cases, signed November 4, 2025 (PDF): parenting class, mediation and standing order (lmjc.net, PDF)
  6. ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, pro se forms (lmjc.net)
  7. ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, Catoosa County page (lmjc.net)
  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: Walker County and Whitfield County.

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