§ 19-11-17.Redetermination at request of parent; time for hearing
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 1973 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-17
Plain-English Summary
This one-paragraph section gives a parent a way back to the department when life changes. It applies to a parent the Department of Human Services has already found able to support a child through its administrative process — either the first determination under § 19-11-15 or a later redetermination under § 19-11-16. If a change in circumstances leaves that parent unable to provide the support, the parent may demand a hearing to have the question looked at again.
The department can’t sit on the request. Once it receives the demand, it shall hold the hearing within 30 days. The section doesn’t list which changes count, and it doesn’t dictate an outcome; it guarantees the hearing, not a lower number. Whether support goes down depends on what the evidence shows about the parent’s present ability to pay.
The section works alongside its neighbors. Section 19-11-15 sets the department’s procedure for the first determination, using the guidelines in § 19-6-15, and § 19-11-16 lets the department start periodic redeterminations and reinvestigations on its own. This section is the parent’s counterpart: the department may revisit an award on its own initiative, and the parent may force a revisit when circumstances change. It speaks only of determinations made under §§ 19-11-15 and 19-11-16, not of support orders a judge entered in a divorce or paternity case. The text has stood unchanged since the Child Support Recovery Act was enacted in 1973.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I ask Georgia’s child support agency for a new hearing if I lost my job?
Yes, if the department found you able to pay under § 19-11-15 or § 19-11-16 and a change in circumstances now leaves you unable to provide that support. You may demand a hearing for redetermination. The section doesn’t list which changes qualify, and it guarantees a hearing, not a particular result. The outcome turns on what the evidence shows about your ability to pay now.
How fast does the department have to hold a child support redetermination hearing?
Within 30 days after it receives your request. The statute says the department “shall” hold the hearing in that time, so the deadline is mandatory. The 30 days run from the department’s receipt of the request, so it helps to make the request in a way that leaves a record of when it arrived.
Does this redetermination hearing apply to child support ordered in my divorce?
Not by its terms. The section covers a parent the department determined able to pay under § 19-11-15 or § 19-11-16 — the administrative process the Department of Human Services runs. A support order a judge entered in a divorce or other court case is changed through the court’s own modification procedures, which other Code sections govern and this section doesn’t address.
Can the Georgia child support agency raise my support on its own?
Yes, through a neighboring section. Under § 19-11-16 the department may conduct periodic redeterminations and reinvestigations of a parent’s ability to pay, and any increase must follow the same procedure as a first determination under § 19-11-15. This section is the parent’s side of that process: it lets the parent demand a new look when circumstances change.
Does asking for a redetermination hearing pause my child support?
Nothing in this section says so. It gives the parent a right to a hearing within 30 days, but it doesn’t suspend the amount already determined while the request is pending. Support that goes unpaid in the meantime can trigger the collection tools in § 19-11-18, where unpaid support becomes a lien as of the date each payment was due.
Amendment History
Laws 1973, p. 192, § 14.