§ 9-11-17.Real party in interest; capacity

A lawsuit has to belong to somebody. This section requires every action to be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest — the person who holds the claim — but it also lists a set of stand-ins who may sue in their own name without dragging the beneficiary into the caption: personal representatives, temporary administrators, guardians, conservators, bailees, trustees of an express trust, a party who contracted for another’s benefit, and anyone else a statute authorizes. Naming the wrong plaintiff is not fatal on its own — the court has to give a reasonable time after objection for the real party in interest to ratify the suit, join it, or be substituted in, and that fix reaches back as if the case had been filed correctly from the start.

Capacity is a separate question from who holds the claim. An individual’s capacity to sue or be sued, including someone acting in a representative role, is governed by Georgia law. A corporation’s capacity instead follows the law of the place where it was organized, unless a Georgia statute says otherwise — a rule that matters most for out-of-state and foreign corporations doing business in Georgia courts.

Subsection (c) covers infants and incompetent persons, who cannot appear for themselves. Where a guardian, committee, conservator, or similar fiduciary already exists, that representative brings or defends the action. Where none exists, a next friend or a court-appointed guardian ad litem steps in, and the court has to appoint a guardian ad litem for anyone in that position who isn’t otherwise represented. To protect the minor’s or incompetent person’s money, a next friend cannot collect any proceeds from a personal action without first posting a bond to the Governor, approved by the court and filed with the clerk.