---
title: O.C.G.A. § 10-7-1. Contract of suretyship or guaranty defined; liability of surety generally.
collection: code
id: 10-7-1
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 10-7-1 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-7-1
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-7-1.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-7-1/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t10-(v8)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=1992b47e_0#page=1135
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-7.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-6B-81.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/10-7-2.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: COMMERCE AND TRADE / SURETYSHIP / CONTRACT OF SURETYSHIP
---

# O.C.G.A. § 10-7-1. Contract of suretyship or guaranty defined; liability of surety generally.

The contract of suretyship or guaranty is one whereby a person obligates himself to pay the debt of another in consideration of a benefit flowing to the surety or in consideration of credit or indulgence or other benefit given to his principal, the principal in either instance remaining bound therefor. Sureties, including those formerly called guarantors, are jointly and severally liable with their principal unless the contract provides otherwise. There shall be no distinction between contracts of suretyship and guaranty.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2125; Code 1868, § 2120; Code 1873, § 2148; Code 1882, § 2148; Civil Code 1895, § 2966; Civil Code 1910, § 3538; Code 1933, § 103-101; Ga. L. 1981, p. 870, § 1.

## Cross References

Transfer warranties, § 11-3-416.

Loan guaranties not state debt, § 20-3-269.

## Law Reviews

For article contrasting guaranty with suretyship in Georgia, see 2 Ga. B. J. 25 (1939).

For article, “The Distinction Between Guaranty and Suretyship in Georgia,” see 9 Ga. B. J. 273 (1947).

For comment discussing distinction between guaranty and suretyship, in light of McCallum v. Griffin, 289 F.2d 135 (5th Cir. 1961), see 24 Ga. B. J. 273 (1961).

For article surveying developments in Georgia commercial law from mid-1980 through mid-1981, see 33 Mercer L. Rev. 33 (1981).

For survey article citing developments in Georgia contracts law from mid-1980 through mid-1981, see 33 Mercer L. Rev. 67 (1981).

For annual survey of law of business associations, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 57 (1986).

For annual survey of construction law, see 43 Mercer L. Rev. 141 (1991).

For comment, “Eleventh Circuit Survey: January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013: Comment: Confirming the Enforceability of the Guaranty Agreement After Non-Judicial Foreclosure in Georgia,” see 65 Mercer L. Rev. 1167 (2014).