Marrying a close relative is a ground for divorce in Georgia, and the marriage is void from the day it was performed.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-5-3(1) makes “[i]ntermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity” a ground for total divorce. Consanguinity means related by blood. Affinity means related by marriage.
Which Relationships Are Prohibited
OCGA 19-3-3(a) sets out the list: (1) father and daughter or stepdaughter, (2) mother and son or stepson, (3) brother and sister of the whole blood or the half blood, (4) grandparent and grandchild, (5) aunt and nephew, and (6) uncle and niece.
Two things about that list are worth noticing. It reaches step-relationships and half-siblings, not just blood relatives. And it is a closed list – first cousins are not on it.
The Marriage Is Void, and the Conduct Is a Crime
Under OCGA 19-3-3(b), marriages within those degrees “shall be void from their inception.” Because the marriage was never valid, this ground may also be the basis for an annulment rather than a divorce.
The same statute also provides that a person who marries someone he knows he is related to in one of those ways “shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years.”
Living Together Afterward Does Not Fix It
Georgia allows some void marriages to be cured. Under OCGA 19-3-5(b), a marriage void because a spouse was underage, of unsound mind, or already married can become valid once that problem is gone if the parties then freely consent and live together as spouses.
That rescue provision points only at those three problems. A marriage within the prohibited degrees is not among them, and no amount of time or cohabitation makes it good.
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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!