§ 19-11-132.Fees and costs

Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 3. Civil Provisions · Last amended 2013 · Last verified October 9, 2026

In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 19-11-132 bars charging a petitioner a filing fee or costs in an interstate support case, lets a Georgia tribunal make the obligor pay a prevailing obligee’s fees and expenses, and requires a fee award when a hearing was requested primarily for delay.

Full Text of § 19-11-132

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c)

(a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs.

(b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of Georgia may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee and the obligee's witnesses. The tribunal may not assess fees, costs, or expenses against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of either the initiating or the responding state or foreign country, except as provided by other law. Attorney's fees may be taxed as costs and may be ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney's own name. Payment of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs, and expenses.

(c) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable attorney's fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily for delay. In a proceeding under Part 6 of this article, a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change.

End

Plain-English Summary

This section decides who pays for an interstate support case. It starts with the petitioner: under subsection (a), the petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs.

Subsection (b) addresses fee shifting. If the obligee prevails, a Georgia responding tribunal may assess against the obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee and the obligee’s witnesses. That is discretionary. Fees can’t shift the other way: the tribunal may not assess fees, costs or expenses against the obligee or against the support enforcement agency of either the initiating or the responding state or foreign country, except as other law provides. Attorney’s fees may be taxed as costs and ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in his or her own name. And support owed to the obligee comes first: payment of support has priority over fees, costs and expenses.

Subsection (c) targets stalling. The tribunal “shall” order payment of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily for delay. In a proceeding under Part 6 of the article — the registration of out-of-state orders that begins at § 19-11-160 — a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if the registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change. A party thinking of contesting a registered order under § 19-11-165 and § 19-11-166 should weigh that presumption. The section was last amended in 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a filing fee for an interstate child support case in Georgia?

Not for the petitioner. Subsection (a) says the petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs in a proceeding under Georgia’s interstate support law. Fees can come into play later: if the obligee prevails, the tribunal may assess filing fees and other costs against the obligor.

Can the court make the other parent pay my attorney’s fees?

It may, if you are the obligee and you prevail. A Georgia responding tribunal may assess against the obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses of the obligee and the obligee’s witnesses. The award is discretionary. Attorney’s fees may be ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney’s own name.

Can I be charged fees if I’m the parent receiving support?

Not under this section’s general rule. The tribunal may not assess fees, costs or expenses against the obligee, or against the support enforcement agency of the initiating or responding state or foreign country, except as provided by other law. Subsection (c) separately requires costs and reasonable attorney’s fees when the tribunal determines a hearing was requested primarily for delay.

What happens if I contest a registered support order and lose?

You may face a fee award. In a registration proceeding under Part 6 of the article, a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if the registered order is confirmed or enforced without change. If the tribunal determines a hearing was requested primarily for delay, it shall order payment of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. The presumption applies when the order comes out unchanged.

Does child support get paid before attorney’s fees?

Yes. The section says payment of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs and expenses. So money collected from the obligor goes to the support owed before it goes to any fees, costs or expenses the tribunal has assessed.

Amendment History

Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 33; Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, enacted by the Georgia General Assembly, and checked word for word against the Georgia Code Revision Commission’s public-domain edition and the acts that later amended it. Section headings are the Code’s official catchlines. Last verified October 9, 2026. · Official source

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