§ 19-7-20.Circumstances of legitimacy; disproving legitimacy; legitimation by marriage of parents and recognition of child
Chapter 7. Parent and Child Relationship Generally · Article 2. Legitimacy · Last amended 1988 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-7-20
Plain-English Summary
This section opens Georgia’s article on legitimacy with the starting rule: every child born in wedlock, or within the usual period of gestation after the marriage ends, is legitimate. The statute does not put a number of days on that period.
Legitimacy can be disputed. But where there was a possibility of access — where the husband could have fathered the child — the law strongly presumes legitimacy, and the proof to the contrary must be clear. One specific exception: if the wife was pregnant at the time of the marriage and a divorce is sought and granted on that ground, the child is not legitimate even though born in wedlock. That divorce ground appears in § 19-5-3(5): pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown to the husband.
Subsection (c) offers a path for a child born out of wedlock. If the mother and the reputed father marry and the father recognizes the child as his, the child becomes legitimate and immediately takes the father’s surname. Both steps are needed: the marriage and the recognition.
The neighboring sections build on these rules. Section 19-7-22 lets a biological father who does not marry the mother petition to legitimate the child, and its definition of “legal father” tracks the routes in this section. Section 19-7-23 defines a child born out of wedlock partly by reference to this section, and § 19-7-25 gives the mother sole custody of such a child unless the father legitimates the child. Its most recent legislative change came in 1988.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a husband automatically the legal father of a child born during the marriage in Georgia?
He is presumed to be. Every child born in wedlock is legitimate, and where the husband had a possibility of access to the wife, the law strongly presumes legitimacy. That presumption can be challenged, but only with clear proof. Code Section 19-7-22 likewise treats a man married to the mother when the child was born, or within the usual period of gestation, as the legal father unless paternity is disproved by a final order.
What if a baby is born shortly after a divorce in Georgia?
The child is still legitimate if born within the usual period of gestation after the marriage ends. This section does not set a specific number of days; it uses the usual period of gestation as the measure. The same strong presumption of legitimacy applies, and anyone disputing it must offer clear proof.
Can a husband deny that he is the father of a child born during the marriage?
Yes, but it is hard. Legitimacy may be disputed, but where the husband had a possibility of access, the law strongly presumes the child is his and requires clear proof to the contrary. And if the wife was pregnant by another man at the time of the marriage without the husband’s knowledge, and he seeks and obtains a divorce on that ground under § 19-5-3(5), the child is not legitimate even though born in wedlock.
Does marrying the mother make a father the legal father in Georgia?
Yes, if he also recognizes the child as his. The marriage of the mother and the reputed father of a child born out of wedlock, together with the father’s recognition of the child, makes the child legitimate. The child then immediately takes the father’s surname. Marriage alone, without that recognition, does not meet this section’s test.
What if the father never marries the mother?
He can petition the superior court to legitimate the child under § 19-7-22, and the court may grant legitimation if it is in the child’s best interests. Until he does, § 19-7-25 makes the mother the only parent entitled to custody of a child born out of wedlock, and she may exercise all parental power over the child.
Amendment History
Laws 1988, p. 1720, § 4.
Formerly Code 1863, §§ 1736, 1737; Code 1868, § 1777; Code 1873, § 1786; Code 1882, § 1786; Civil Code 1895, § 2493; Civil Code 1910, § 3012; Code 1933, § 74-101.