No. The Georgia rule against default judgments is not confined to the divorce itself.
What the Statute Covers
OCGA 19-5-8 opens by naming three kinds of case – “actions for divorce, alimony, and custody of minor children” – and then provides that “[n]o verdict or judgment by default shall be taken in any such case.”
So the protection travels with the subject matter. A spouse who never files an answer has not conceded alimony, and has not conceded custody.
It Reaches Claims Joined Into the Divorce
Brown v. Brown, 271 Ga. 887 (2000), extends it further still. A wife filed for divorce and named her mother-in-law as a co-defendant, claiming that real property titled in the mother-in-law’s name really belonged to the marriage and was subject to equitable division. The mother-in-law was served in March and did not answer until the following October. The trial court entered a default judgment against her, holding that she held the property in trust for the couple.
The Georgia Supreme Court reversed. Such a claim against a non-spouse “has always been considered an integral part of the divorce action to which it was joined,” and “a default judgment cannot be entered against the defendant on such a claim.”
And Related Family Cases
Ernst v. Snow, 305 Ga. App. 194 (2010), applies the same idea outside divorce. A mother who had been properly served with a father’s legitimation petition left the state and did not appear at the hearing, and the trial court granted legitimation and changed custody. The Court of Appeals vacated those orders, saying plainly that it found “no authority for granting legitimation by default.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!