What you tell a minister while seeking counseling is privileged in Georgia, and that protection has been applied to a couple’s meeting with their own pastor during a divorce.
What the Statute Covers
The privilege is at OCGA 24-5-502. In Frost v. Frost, 299 Ga. 278 (2016), the Georgia Supreme Court described it as creating a privilege for any “communication made by any person … seeking counseling to any Protestant minister of the Gospel … or similar functionary.”
A Recorded Counseling Session Was Kept Out
In Frost, the wife secretly recorded a meeting between herself, her husband, and their church pastor that took place after the divorce complaint was filed. She wanted the recording admitted as evidence that her husband had agreed to settle the financial issues. The husband objected that the conversation with the pastor was privileged. The trial court excluded the recording, and the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, holding that on the totality of the admitted circumstances the trial court did not err in finding the meeting was a marriage counseling session with the parties’ minister.
The Minister Has to Be Acting as One
The privilege turns on what the conversation was for. Quoting its earlier decision in Morris v. State, the Court in Frost repeated that “only those communications with a clergy person in which the declarant is professing religious faith, or seeking spiritual comfort or counseling are deemed privileged.”
So a conversation with someone who happens to be a minister is not automatically protected. If your pastor was there as a friend, a landlord, or a business partner rather than as clergy, the statute may not reach what was said.
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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!