§ 19-11-191.Severability
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 9. Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended 2013 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-191
Plain-English Summary
This is the article’s severability clause. If a court holds any provision of the article — or its application to any person or circumstance — invalid, the ruling does not affect the other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid one. To that end, the section declares the article’s provisions severable.
The clause works at two levels. A whole provision may fall, and the rest of the article stays in force. Or a provision may be invalid only as applied to a particular person or situation, and it keeps working everywhere else. Either way, the cut is as narrow as the invalidity.
The clause has a built-in limit. It saves only provisions and applications “which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.” A provision that can’t operate without the struck part isn’t saved by this section. Whether a surviving part can stand alone is for the court to decide.
The clause covers the whole article — the interstate rules, the Hague convention provisions in Code Sections 19-11-180 through 19-11-184.8, and the interstate rendition rules in Code Sections 19-11-185 and 19-11-186. It dates to 1997 and was amended in 2013.
Frequently Asked Questions
If part of Georgia’s UIFSA is struck down, does the whole law fall?
No. Under this section, if any provision of the article or its application is held invalid, the invalidity doesn’t affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid one. The article’s provisions are declared severable, so the rest stays in force.
What is a severability clause?
It is a provision telling courts what to do if part of a law is held invalid. This one says the invalid part is cut out and everything that can operate without it remains. Georgia’s Uniform Interstate Family Support Act declares its provisions severable for that purpose.
Can a UIFSA provision be invalid for one person but valid for others?
Yes. The section speaks of a provision’s “application to any person or circumstance” being held invalid. If that happens, other applications of the same provision that can be given effect without the invalid one remain in force. A provision can fail in one situation and still work in others.
Does the severability clause save provisions that depend on the invalid one?
No. It saves only the provisions and applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. If a provision can’t operate once another part is struck, this section doesn’t keep it alive. Whether a surviving part can stand alone is a question for the court.
Does the severability clause cover the Hague convention provisions too?
Yes. It applies to any provision of “this article,” meaning Georgia’s entire Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. That includes the Hague convention provisions in Code Sections 19-11-180 through 19-11-184.8 and the interstate rendition provisions in Code Sections 19-11-185 and 19-11-186.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 33; Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013.