A separate maintenance action asks the court to order your spouse to do something, so the court needs power over your spouse personally. That means personal service.
Being in Georgia Is Enough
Personal service does not require that your spouse live here. In Ward v. Ward, 223 Ga. 868 (1968), a wife sued her husband for alimony in Fulton County. He claimed Alabama residency, but he was personally served while in Fulton County.
The Georgia Supreme Court upheld jurisdiction, holding that a superior court “has jurisdiction of an action for temporary and permanent alimony . . . against a nonresident temporarily sojourning in the county, upon whom personal service has been made.” The principle it relied on is broad: “[t]he jurisdiction of this State and its laws extend to all persons while within its limits, whether as citizens, denizens, or temporary sojourners.”
You Cannot Convert the Case by Mail
Southworth v. Southworth, 265 Ga. 671 (1995), shows how strictly this is applied. A husband filed for separate maintenance and had his wife personally served. She later moved out of Georgia. He then amended his petition to add a claim for divorce and simply mailed the amendment to her old Georgia address.
The Georgia Supreme Court held that would not do. His amendment “was itself an original complaint for divorce, the very purpose of which was to seek relief which would replace totally the relief sought in his original complaint for separate maintenance.”
Because it was “an entirely new cause of action,” he was required to serve her with process all over again, and the divorce decree he obtained was set aside.
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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!