§ 19-11-50.Remedies of state or political subdivision furnishing support; court orders for present or future support not to be jeopardized
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 2. Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act · Last amended 1958 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-50
Plain-English Summary
Sometimes the government steps in and supports a family when the person who owes support doesn’t. This section gives the state, or a political subdivision of it, a way to recover. Whenever it furnishes support to an obligee, it has the same right the obligee has to invoke the reciprocal support article for two purposes: securing reimbursement of what it spent and obtaining continuing support. The government stands in the obligee’s shoes — it gets the same right, not a greater one.
Subsection (b) puts the family first. The government can’t invoke subsection (a) unless the court with jurisdiction is satisfied that its efforts to recover reimbursement for past support won’t jeopardize enforcement of the court’s orders for present or future support of the dependents involved. The court also has the right at any time to enter appropriate orders to carry out that protection. So a payback claim for past support can’t be allowed to crowd out the support the dependents need now and later.
Like all of Article 2, this section is closed to new matters. Under § 19-11-40.1, no new petition or proceeding may be started under the article on or after January 1, 1998, and it applies only to proceedings pending before that date; the General Assembly intended later filings to be governed by Article 3, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. In Article 3, § 19-11-120 lets a support enforcement agency start a proceeding, and § 19-11-102 names the Department of Human Services as Georgia’s support enforcement agency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the state recover money it spent supporting my child from the other parent under URESA?
Yes, within limits. Whenever the state or a political subdivision furnishes support to an obligee, this section gives it the same right as the obligee to invoke the article to secure reimbursement of those expenditures and to obtain continuing support. The court must first be satisfied that the effort won’t jeopardize present or future support, and the article now governs only proceedings pending before January 1, 1998 (§ 19-11-40.1).
Can the government’s reimbursement claim cut into the support my children get now?
The section is written to prevent that. Subsection (a) can’t be invoked unless the court is satisfied that the government’s efforts to recover reimbursement for previous support won’t jeopardize enforcement of the court’s orders for present or future support of the dependents involved. The court may enter appropriate orders at any time to protect that support.
Does the government get more rights than the person it supported?
No. The section gives the state or political subdivision “the same right” as the obligee to whom the support was furnished. It steps into the obligee’s position for the purposes of reimbursement and continuing support; it doesn’t gain additional remedies through this section.
Can the court revisit its orders about the government’s reimbursement claim?
Yes. Subsection (b) says the court has the right at any time to enter appropriate orders to carry out that subsection — the rule that reimbursement efforts must not jeopardize enforcement of orders for present or future support. So the court can adjust its orders as the case develops to keep the dependents’ ongoing support protected.
Can a government agency start an interstate support case today?
Not under this article, which § 19-11-40.1 closed to new petitions and proceedings on January 1, 1998. Under Article 3, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, § 19-11-120 says a support enforcement agency may start a proceeding, and § 19-11-102 makes the Department of Human Services Georgia’s support enforcement agency.
Amendment History
Laws 1958, p. 34, § 7.