(a) Persons having claims against the plaintiff may be joined as defendants and required to interplead when their claims are such that the plaintiff is or may be exposed to double or multiple liability. It is not ground for objection to the joinder that the claims of the several claimants or the titles on which their claims depend do not have a common origin or are not identical but are adverse to and independent of one another or that the plaintiff avers that he is not liable in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants. A defendant exposed to similar liability may obtain such interpleader by way of cross-claim or counterclaim. This Code section supplements and does not in any way limit the joinder of parties permitted in Code Section 9-11-20.
§ 9-11-22.Interpleader
Chapter 11. Civil Practice Act · Article 4. Parties · Last amended 1967 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-11-22 lets a plaintiff facing competing claims to the same fund or property join the rival claimants as defendants and force them to interplead, even when their claims share no common origin, and lets a defendant facing similar double-liability exposure raise interpleader through a cross-claim or counterclaim.
Full Text of § 9-11-22
(b) The remedy provided in this Code section is in addition to and in no way supersedes or limits the remedy of equitable interpleader provided for in Code Sections 23-3-90 through 23-3-92.
Plain-English Summary
Sometimes more than one person claims the same money or property, and whoever holds it risks paying the wrong claimant, or paying twice. This section lets that stakeholder join every rival claimant as a defendant and require them to interplead — to fight out entitlement among themselves rather than each one separately going after the stakeholder. The claims don’t need to share a common origin or even be identical; they can be adverse to and independent of one another, and the plaintiff can even assert that it isn’t liable, in whole or in part, to any of the claimants and still use this section.
A defendant facing the same kind of double-liability exposure gets the same tool through a cross-claim or counterclaim. Subsection (a) makes clear that interpleader under this section supplements, rather than limits, the ordinary joinder of parties allowed under Code Section 9-11-20, and subsection (b) confirms that this remedy sits alongside, without displacing, any equitable interpleader remedy Georgia law provides elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is interpleader under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-22?
A procedure that lets a party facing double or multiple liability from competing claimants join all of them as defendants and require them to litigate their claims against each other.
Do the competing claims have to arise from the same event to use interpleader?
No. The section states it isn’t a ground for objection that the claims, or the titles they depend on, lack a common origin, or that they are adverse to and independent of one another.
Can a defendant use interpleader, or is it available only to a plaintiff?
A defendant exposed to similar liability can obtain interpleader by way of a cross-claim or counterclaim.
Does the party seeking interpleader have to admit it owes something to one of the claimants?
No. The plaintiff may aver that it is not liable, in whole or in part, to any or all of the claimants and still bring the claimants together to interplead.
Does this section replace other interpleader remedies available under Georgia law?
No. It supplements, and does not limit, the general joinder of parties permitted under Code Section 9-11-20, and it adds to rather than supersedes any equitable interpleader remedy available elsewhere.
Amendment History
Ga. L. 1966, p. 609, § 22; Ga. L. 1967, p. 226, § 11.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: interpleader Georgia lawsuitdouble liability stakeholder Georgiacross-claim interpleader Georgiacompeting claims to same fund Georgia