A statement of fact in your own divorce pleading is an admission, and your spouse can use it without proving anything.
Admissions in Judicio
OCGA 24-8-821 provides that “[w]ithout offering the same in evidence, either party may avail himself or herself of allegations or admissions made in the pleadings of the other.” Georgia calls these admissions in judicio, and they are binding on the party who made them. In Bell v. Bell, 247 Ga. App. 462 (2000), a man who claimed the attorney appearing for him at a settlement hearing was not really his attorney was defeated by his own pro se answer, which said otherwise.
An Example
In the Interest of D.C., 279 Ga. App. 889 (2006), shows how ordinary the trap is. A father asserted that he and the mother had a common-law marriage. His own pleading in the case alleged that the children were born out of wedlock. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court’s finding of no marriage was supported by the mother’s testimony “as well as the father’s judicial admission.”
Two Limits
First, this reaches facts only. Mims v. Mims, 297 Ga. 70 (2015), a divorce contempt case, states it flatly: “Admissions in judicio apply only to admissions of fact, and not to conclusions of law.”
Second, the trial court can let an admission be withdrawn. In Larizza v. Larizza, 286 Ga. 461 (2010), a wife’s divorce complaint said her husband was unable to sustain employment because of his disabilities, and he argued she was stuck with it. The Georgia Supreme Court assumed the trial court had “admitted conflicting evidence on the merits and tacitly permitted appellee to withdraw the admission.”
Do not count on that. Read every factual allegation before you sign.
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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!