§ 19-11-77.Registration of foreign support order; filing in registry of foreign support orders
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 2. Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act · Last amended 1979 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-77
Plain-English Summary
This section belongs to Article 2, Georgia’s version of the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA). Under § 19-11-40.1, no new petition may be filed and no new proceeding may begin under Article 2 on or after January 1, 1998; the article applies only to proceedings pending before that date. Interstate support cases begun since then fall under Article 3, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which starts at § 19-11-100.
This section is the gateway to URESA registration. Subsection (a) gives the obligee — the person owed support — the option to register a foreign support order in a Georgia court. The registration happens in the manner, with the effect, and for the purposes the article provides. It is a choice (“may register”), not a requirement.
Subsection (b) gives the clerk a recordkeeping job. The clerk of the superior court shall maintain a registry of foreign support orders and file foreign support orders in it. That registry is where these out-of-state orders live once they come into the Georgia system.
The details are in the sections that follow. Section 19-11-79 lists the documents the obligee sends to the district attorney, who files them with the clerk; § 19-11-80 covers the hearing at which the obligor may raise defenses and the court enters the order that completes registration; and § 19-11-81 treats the registered order like a Georgia support order. Section 19-11-76 introduces these remedies as additions to the article’s other tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I register another state’s child support order in Georgia?
Under URESA, the obligee may register a foreign support order in a Georgia court in the manner and with the effect the article provides. But § 19-11-40.1 bars new proceedings under Article 2 on or after January 1, 1998. Registration today proceeds under Article 3, beginning at § 19-11-160.
Who keeps the registry of out-of-state support orders in Georgia?
The clerk of the superior court. Subsection (b) requires the clerk to maintain a registry of foreign support orders and to file foreign support orders in it. Under § 19-11-79, the district attorney files the obligee’s registration documents with that clerk so a hearing can be set.
Is registration of an out-of-state order mandatory under URESA?
No. Subsection (a) says the obligee “may” register the foreign support order. It is one of the additional remedies § 19-11-76 makes available when the duty of support rests on a foreign support order. The obligee decides whether to use it.
What documents are needed to register a URESA order?
Section 19-11-79 lists them: three certified copies of the order with all modifications, one copy of the other state’s Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, one copy of the law governing certification of orders in the certifying state, and a verified statement signed by the obligee. They go to the district attorney.
What does registering a URESA order accomplish?
Under § 19-11-81, once registered, the foreign support order is treated the same as a support order issued by a Georgia court. It has the same effect, is subject to the same procedures and defenses, and may be enforced and satisfied the same way.
Amendment History
Laws 1979, p. 938, § 1.