§ 19-9-133.Continuing application of former provisions as applicable to grandparents

Chapter 9. Child Custody Proceedings · Article 4. Power of Attorney for the Care of a Child · Last amended 2018 · Last verified October 9, 2026

In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 19-9-133 keeps older grandparent powers of attorney in force under the old rules: a power of attorney given to a grandparent before September 1, 2018, stays governed by former Code Sections 19-9-120 through 19-9-129 as they read on August 30, 2018.

Full Text of § 19-9-133

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This article shall not affect a power of attorney given to a grandparent prior to September 1, 2018, to which the provisions of former Code Sections 19-9-120 through 19-9-129, as such existed on August 30, 2018, shall continue to apply.

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Plain-English Summary

The current article took effect September 1, 2018. Before then, an earlier version of Code Sections 19-9-120 through 19-9-129 governed powers of attorney given to grandparents. This section keeps the 2018 change from disturbing those older documents. The current article doesn’t affect a power of attorney given to a grandparent before September 1, 2018; the former sections, as they existed on August 30, 2018, continue to apply to it.

In practice, a grandparent holding a pre-2018 power of attorney looks to the former law, not to the current article’s notice, filing, background-check and duration rules. The former sections aren’t part of the current Code, so reading them means finding an edition that shows the law as it stood on August 30, 2018. A power of attorney given to a grandparent on or after September 1, 2018, follows the current article, which lets a grandparent delegation have an unlimited duration under § 19-9-132(a) and requires notarization and a probate filing under § 19-9-129. The section names only grandparents; it says nothing about older powers of attorney given to anyone else. It took effect September 1, 2018, and hasn’t been amended.

Frequently Asked Questions

My grandchild’s power of attorney was signed before 2018. Is it still good in Georgia?

The current article doesn’t affect it. If the power of attorney was given to a grandparent before September 1, 2018, the former Code Sections 19-9-120 through 19-9-129, as they existed on August 30, 2018, continue to apply. Whether a particular document is still in effect depends on its terms and on those former rules.

Does a pre-2018 grandparent power of attorney have to follow the new filing rules?

Not under this section. It says the current article doesn’t affect a power of attorney given to a grandparent before September 1, 2018, and that the former sections continue to govern it. So the current probate filing, notice and background-check rules in §§ 19-9-124 through 19-9-130 don’t reach it; the old law does.

Where can I find the old Georgia grandparent power of attorney law?

In an edition of the Georgia Code that shows Code Sections 19-9-120 through 19-9-129 as they stood on August 30, 2018. Those former sections were replaced when the current article took effect on September 1, 2018, so the current Code shows the new text under the same numbers.

Does this rule protect older powers of attorney given to relatives other than grandparents?

No. The section speaks only of a power of attorney given to a grandparent before September 1, 2018. It doesn’t carry the former rules forward for documents given to anyone else, such as an aunt, uncle or family friend. Any delegation made on or after that date, to a grandparent or anyone else, follows the current article.

Which rules apply if a grandparent gets a new power of attorney today?

The current article. A new delegation to a grandparent may have an unlimited duration under § 19-9-132(a), must be signed under oath before a notary and filed with the probate court under § 19-9-129, and is subject to the notice rules in § 19-9-125 when the signer has sole custody.

Amendment History

Laws 2018, Act 285, § 2-2, eff. Sept. 1, 2018.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, enacted by the Georgia General Assembly, and checked word for word against the Georgia Code Revision Commission’s public-domain edition and the acts that later amended it. Section headings are the Code’s official catchlines. Last verified October 9, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: grandparent power of attorney before 2018 georgiaold grandparent power of attorney georgiaformer grandparent power of attorney lawpre-2018 power of attorney grandchild