§ 19-8-25.Effect of prior consent or surrender of rights
Chapter 8. Adoption · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 2018 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-8-25
Plain-English Summary
Georgia’s adoption article was amended by a 2018 law that took effect on September 1, 2018. This section handles the changeover so that families caught in the middle didn’t have to start over.
Subsection (a) protects paperwork signed under the old law. A written consent or surrender of rights signed on or before August 31, 2018, satisfies the surrender requirements for an adoption proceeding started on or after September 1, 2018. No parent or guardian has to sign new documents under § 19-8-4, § 19-8-5, § 19-8-6 or § 19-8-7. But every other applicable requirement of the adoption article still has to be met.
Subsection (b) protects decrees. The legislature said it meant to clarify, not change, how the earlier provisions applied to cases pending on August 31, 2018. Any adoption decree in a case whose petition was filed in a Georgia superior court before September 1, 2018, is valid if the adoption met the article’s requirements as they stood on either August 31, 2018, or September 1, 2018. Each such decree is ratified and confirmed. The section was last amended in 2018.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an adoption surrender signed before September 2018 still valid in Georgia?
Yes, for this purpose. A written consent or surrender of rights signed on or before August 31, 2018, is deemed to satisfy the surrender requirements for an adoption proceeding started on or after September 1, 2018. The parent or guardian does not have to sign the documents now required by § 19-8-4, § 19-8-5, § 19-8-6 or § 19-8-7.
Do birth parents need to sign new adoption forms after the 2018 changes?
Not if they signed a written consent or surrender on or before August 31, 2018. That document counts for an adoption proceeding filed on or after September 1, 2018, and no parent or guardian needs to sign new surrender documents. The rest of the adoption article still applies, so the other filing and procedural requirements must be satisfied.
What still has to be done when an older surrender is used in a Georgia adoption?
Everything else the adoption article requires. Subsection (a) excuses only new surrender documents; it says all other applicable provisions must be complied with. That includes, for example, the petition requirements of § 19-8-13 and, where it applies, the notice rules for a biological father who is not a legal father in § 19-8-12.
Is my adoption valid if the case was pending when Georgia’s law changed in 2018?
Yes, if the adoption met the rules in effect on either date. A decree issued in a case whose petition was filed in a Georgia superior court before September 1, 2018, is valid if the adoption conformed to the article’s requirements as they existed on August 31, 2018, or on September 1, 2018. The section ratifies and confirms each such decree.
Why does Georgia have a transition rule for adoption cases?
To keep families from being caught between two sets of rules. The legislature stated that subsection (b) clarifies, rather than changes, how the earlier provisions apply to adoption cases pending on August 31, 2018. Together the two subsections keep older surrenders usable and protect decrees in cases that straddled the September 1, 2018 effective date.
Amendment History
Laws 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Laws 1991, p. 1640, § 12; Laws 2018, Act 285, § 1-1, eff. Sept. 1, 2018.