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Divorce in the Southern Judicial Circuit: court rules for Brooks, Colquitt, Echols, Lowndes and Thomas counties
Summary
The Superior Court judges of the Southern Judicial Circuit set one domestic relations standing order, one parenting seminar requirement and one mediation program for Brooks, Colquitt, Echols, Lowndes and Thomas counties. Filing fees, clerks' offices and local help differ by county, so check your county's page too.
- A standing order takes effect the day a divorce is filed and lasts 60 days, or until a temporary order, unless the court extends it.1
- Parents of children under 18 complete the circuit's seminar within 45 days after service or acknowledgment of service.1
- A contested family case still open 150 days after filing is referred to mediation.2
- The circuit covers Brooks, Colquitt, Echols, Lowndes and Thomas counties.3
County pages
Fees, clerks' offices and local help differ by county:
- Brooks County
- Colquitt County: filing fee not posted online; ask the clerk
- Echols County
- Lowndes County: filing fee $218, sheriff service $50 in Lowndes County
- Thomas County: filing fee $218, sheriff service $50 per copy served
Standing order
The standing order signed November 4, 2022 takes effect when the divorce is filed and lasts until a temporary order is entered, the order is extended, or 60 days pass, whichever comes first. Without the other parent's written agreement or a court order, neither parent may:
- Take the children out of school or day care, hide them or change where they live.
- Talk about the case with or around the children, or make negative remarks about the other parent in front of them.
- Block the children's phone contact with the other parent.
Neither spouse may cancel insurance, utilities or the other's cell phone, change beneficiaries, or hide or waste money in marital accounts, though normal spending and paying a lawyer are allowed. The court expects both spouses to keep paying the household bills as before and to keep up any support one spouse has historically provided the other.1
Parenting seminar
In any case involving children under 18, each parent completes the "In the Best Interest of the Children" seminar, or a similar program the court approves, within 45 days after the other spouse is served or files an acknowledgment of service.1
The circuit's judges have required the seminar since a December 22, 1997 order, in divorce, separate maintenance, paternity, custody, visitation and legitimation cases involving children under 18. A fee waiver application is available, and questions go to 229-563-6439, not to the sheriff's offices.4
Mediation
Under the circuit's ADR rules, a contested divorce or other family case still pending 150 days after it was filed is referred to mediation. The judge can refer it sooner, or the spouses can ask. Family cases are screened for domestic violence first, and cases filed only under the Family Violence Act aren't sent to mediation. The spouses split the mediator's fee equally unless the judge orders otherwise.2
A session usually takes no more than four hours and is confidential, and lawyers who represent a spouse must attend. If the spouses settle, the mediator writes up a settlement memorandum for both to sign, and their lawyers turn it into a formal agreement or consent order.5
Forms
The circuit posts divorce packets for cases with and without minor children, contested or uncontested, with filing instructions and a page on which packet you need.6
Sources
- ^ Southern Judicial Circuit, standing order for domestic relations actions, November 2022 (PDF) (southernjudicialcircuit.com, PDF)
- ^ Southern Judicial Circuit, local ADR program rules (PDF) (southernjudicialcircuit.com, PDF)
- ^ O.C.G.A. § 15-6-1, judicial circuits (Justia) (law.justia.com)
- ^ Southern Judicial Circuit, program for parents on the effects of divorce on children (southernjudicialcircuit.com)
- ^ Southern Judicial Circuit, alternative dispute resolution program (southernjudicialcircuit.com)
- ^ Southern Judicial Circuit, self-help family law forms (southernjudicialcircuit.com)
Court rules change. If something here looks out of date, email help@divorce.city.