§ 19-11-55.Duty of court of this state when acting as initiating state; transmittal of copies of petition, certificate, and article; monetary recommendation to Canadian court
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 2. Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act · Last amended 1975 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-55
Plain-English Summary
This section describes the first leg of a reciprocal support case. When a Georgia court acts as the initiating state, it reviews the petition for two things: facts from which it may be determined that the respondent owes a duty of support, and a sign that a court of the responding state may obtain jurisdiction of the respondent or the respondent’s property. If it finds both, it must certify so and send three copies of the petition, its certificate and this article to the court in the responding state. The Georgia court doesn’t decide whether support is owed; under § 19-11-63 that finding belongs to the responding court.
If the Georgia court doesn’t know the name and address of the right court, and the responding state has an information agency like Georgia’s, it sends the copies to that state information agency or other proper officials. It asks them to forward the copies to the proper court and to have that court acknowledge receipt to the Georgia court. Georgia’s own information agency, the Department of Human Services, keeps the lists that make this work (§ 19-11-58).
Subsection (b) adds a step when the responding state is a province or territory of Canada — which counts as a “state” only if the Attorney General has declared it a reciprocating state under § 19-11-44. The Georgia court must also state in its certificate the weekly or monthly amount, in United States money, that it thinks the respondent should pay. That figure is provisional only; the Canadian court may confirm or modify it. The section was amended in 1975.
Article 2 has been closed to new petitions since January 1, 1998 (§ 19-11-40.1). In Article 3, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, § 19-11-123 has a Georgia initiating tribunal forward the petition to the responding tribunal or support enforcement agency, or to the responding state’s information agency if the tribunal is unknown, and, on request, issue a certificate or findings the responding state’s law requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did a Georgia court do with a URESA petition when the other parent lived in another state?
It screened and forwarded it. If the petition set out facts from which it might be determined that the respondent owed a duty of support, and a court in the responding state might obtain jurisdiction of the respondent or the respondent’s property, the Georgia court certified that and sent three copies of the petition, its certificate and the article to the court in the responding state.
Did the Georgia court decide whether the other parent owed support?
No. The initiating court only found that the petition set out facts from which a duty of support “may be determined.” The decision came from the responding state’s court: under § 19-11-63, that court may order support if it finds a duty of support.
What if the Georgia court didn’t know which court in the other state should get the case?
It sent the copies to that state’s information agency or other proper officials, if the responding state had an information agency comparable to Georgia’s. It asked them to forward the copies to the proper court and to have that court acknowledge receipt to the Georgia court.
How did URESA work when the other parent lived in Canada?
Only a Canadian province or territory the Attorney General had declared a reciprocating state under § 19-11-44 counted. For those, the Georgia court also stated in its certificate the weekly or monthly amount, in United States money, it believed the respondent should pay. That recommendation was provisional and subject to confirmation or modification by the Canadian court.
How are interstate support petitions forwarded today?
Under Article 3. Section 19-11-123 says a Georgia initiating tribunal shall forward the petition and documents to the responding tribunal or the appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state, or, if the tribunal is unknown, to that state’s information agency with a request to forward them and acknowledge receipt. This article has taken no new petitions since January 1, 1998 (§ 19-11-40.1).
Amendment History
Laws 1958, p. 34, § 12; Laws 1975, p. 818, § 3.