Under Georgia’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, a claim to undo a fraudulent transfer generally must be brought within four years after the transfer was made.
What the Statute Says
Under OCGA 18-2-79, a claim “is extinguished unless action is brought” in time. For a transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor, that means “within four years after the transfer was made or the obligation was incurred or, if later, within one year after the transfer or obligation was or could reasonably have been discovered by the claimant.” A claim that a transfer was made without reasonably equivalent value gets four years with no discovery extension. A claim against a transfer to an insider to pay an old debt must be brought “within one year after the transfer was made.” A transfer to a qualifying charity has its own two-year limit, OCGA 18-2-85(c).
The Discovery Test
In Cunningham v. Gage, 301 Ga. App. 306 (2009), judgment creditors sued in 2007 over a woman’s deed to her brother, recorded in 1999. They argued the deed had only one witness and gave no proper notice, but the Court of Appeals said that was “not the test” and held the claim time-barred, since they did not argue they could not reasonably have discovered it sooner.
An Example From a Divorce
In Lanier v. Anthony, 261 Ga. App. 848 (2003), a wife learned within two weeks of filing for divorce of her husband’s note to his father for about $150,000, secured by a deed on the farm. She later called the deed “phony” but acquiesced in a settlement recognizing the debt. When a later buyer challenged the deed, the Court of Appeals held that the debt was valid and that, in any event, she had not moved to set the conveyance aside within seven years of discovering it. That seven-year rule predated the current Act, which took effect in 2002.
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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!