---
title: O.C.G.A. § 19-6-10. Voluntary separation, abandonment, or driving off of spouse — Petition for alimony or child support when no divorce pending — Order and enforcement; equitable remedies; effect of filing for divorce.
collection: code
id: 19-6-10
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 19-6-10 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-6-10
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-6-10.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-6-10/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t18-t19-(v16)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=d30bd29e_0#page=15
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.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: DOMESTIC RELATIONS / ALIMONY AND CHILD SUPPORT / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 19-6-10. Voluntary separation, abandonment, or driving off of spouse — Petition for alimony or child support when no divorce pending — Order and enforcement; equitable remedies; effect of filing for divorce.

When spouses are living separately or in a bona fide state of separation and there is no action for divorce pending, either party, on the party’s own behalf or on the behalf of the minor children and any dependent adult child as defined in Code Section 19-6-15.1 in the party’s custody, if any, may institute a proceeding by petition, setting forth fully the party’s case. Upon three days’ notice to the other party, the judge may hear the same and may grant such order as he or she might grant were it based on a pending petition for divorce, to be enforced in the same manner, together with any other remedy applicable in equity, such as appointing a receiver and the like. Should the petition proceed to a hearing before a jury, the jury may render a verdict which shall provide the factual basis for equitable relief as in Code Section 19-6-9. However, such proceeding shall be held in abeyance when a petition for divorce is filed bona fide by either party and the judge presiding has made his or her order on the motion for alimony. When so made, the order shall be a substitute for the aforesaid decree in equity as long as the petition is pending and is not finally disposed of on the merits.

## History

Ga. L. 1870, p. 413, § 4; Code 1873, § 1747; Code 1882, § 1747; Civil Code 1895, § 2467; Civil Code 1910, § 2986; Code 1933, § 30-213; Ga. L. 1979, p. 466, § 18; Ga. L. 2024, p. 388, § 2/HB 499, effective July 1, 2024.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 388, § 6/HB 499, not codified by the General Assembly, makes this Code section applicable to all causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2024.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, inserted “and any dependent adult child as defined in Code Section 19-6-15.1” near the end of the first sentence, inserted “or she” in the second sentence, and inserted “or her” in the fourth sentence of this Code section. See Editor’s notes for applicability.