(a) Pleadings. There shall be a complaint and an answer; a third-party complaint, if a person who is not an original party is summoned under Code Section 9-11-14; and a third-party answer, if a third-party complaint is served. There may be a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such and an answer to a cross-claim, if the answer contains a cross-claim. No other pleading shall be allowed, except that the court may order a reply to an answer or a third-party answer.
§ 9-11-7.Pleadings allowed; form of motions
Chapter 11. Civil Practice Act · Article 3. Pleadings and Motions · Last amended 1967 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-11-7 lists the only pleadings Georgia civil procedure allows -- complaint, answer, and, where applicable, third-party complaint and answer, with a reply or cross-claim answer permitted in limited circumstances -- requires motions to be in writing and state their grounds with particularity, and abolishes demurrers and similar common-law objections to a pleading's sufficiency.
Full Text of § 9-11-7
(b) Motions and other papers.
(1) An application to the court for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be made in writing, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought. The requirement of writing is fulfilled if the motion is stated in a written notice of the hearing of the motion.
(2) The rules applicable to captions, signing, and other matters of form of pleadings apply to all motions and other papers provided for by this chapter.
(c) Demurrers, pleas, etc., abolished. Demurrers, pleas, and exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading shall not be used.
Plain-English Summary
Old-style pleading let parties file round after round of technical objections. This section closes that door in Georgia by naming the finite set of pleadings a case may generate: a complaint and an answer, plus a third-party complaint and third-party answer when Code Section 9-11-14 brings in an additional party. A reply to a counterclaim, if the counterclaim is labeled as such, and an answer to a cross-claim are allowed when needed, but nothing else — unless the court specifically orders a reply to an answer or third-party answer.
Subsection (b) governs how a party asks the court to act outside of a pleading. A motion has to be in writing (unless made during a hearing or trial, or unless the motion is stated in a written notice of the hearing), state its grounds with particularity, and spell out the relief sought. The same formal requirements that govern pleadings — captions, signatures, and the like — apply to motions and other papers as well.
Subsection (c) delivers the section’s cleanest instruction: demurrers, pleas, and exceptions attacking a pleading’s sufficiency are gone. Georgia practice funnels those objections into the motion practice set out in Code Section 9-11-12 instead of the older common-law forms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What pleadings does Georgia civil procedure allow?
A complaint and an answer, a third-party complaint if a party is brought in under Code Section 9-11-14, a third-party answer if a third-party complaint is served, and a reply to a counterclaim or an answer to a cross-claim where applicable. No other pleading is allowed absent a court order.
Can a Georgia court order a party to file a reply beyond what the statute lists?
Yes. The court may order a reply to an answer or to a third-party answer even though the statute doesn’t otherwise permit one.
Do Georgia motions have to be in writing?
Generally yes, unless the motion is made during a hearing or trial, or the motion is stated in a written notice of the hearing on it.
What does a written motion have to include under Georgia law?
The grounds for the motion, stated with particularity, and the relief or order the moving party is seeking.
Are demurrers still used in Georgia civil cases?
No. Subsection (c) abolishes demurrers, pleas, and exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading; those objections are handled through motion practice instead.
Amendment History
Ga. L. 1966, p. 609, § 7; Ga. L. 1967, p. 226, § 7.
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
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