---
title: O.C.G.A. § 19-7-20. Circumstances of legitimacy; disproving legitimacy; legitimation by marriage of parents and recognition of child.
collection: code
id: 19-7-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 19-7-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-7-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-7-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-7-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t18-t19-(v16)-2022-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=b0848ebd_0#page=722
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/19-7.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-7-6.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-7-21.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: DOMESTIC RELATIONS / PARENT AND CHILD RELATIONSHIP GENERALLY / LEGITIMACY
---

# O.C.G.A. § 19-7-20. Circumstances of legitimacy; disproving legitimacy; legitimation by marriage of parents and recognition of child.

(a) All children born in wedlock or within the usual period of gestation thereafter are legitimate.

(b) The legitimacy of a child born as described in subsection (a) of this Code section may be disputed. Where possibility of access exists, the strong presumption is in favor of legitimacy and the proof must be clear to establish the contrary. If pregnancy existed at the time of the marriage and a divorce is sought and obtained on that ground, the child, although born in wedlock, will not be legitimate.

(c) The marriage of the mother and reputed father of a child born out of wedlock and the recognition by the father of the child as his shall render the child legitimate; in such case the child shall immediately take the surname of his father.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, §§ 1736, 1737; Code 1868, § 1777; Code 1873, § 1786; Code 1882, § 1786; Civil Code 1895, § 2493; Civil Code 1910, § 3012; Code 1933, § 74-101; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1720, § 4.

## Cross References

Inheritance rights of child born out of wedlock, § 53-2-3.

## Law Reviews

For note proposing Blood Grouping Test Act to expand admissible guidance in paternity proceedings, see 1 Mercer L. Rev. 266 (1950).

For note discussing scientific basis of blood classification and use of blood tests as evidence, see 16 Mercer L. Rev. 306 (1964).

For comment on Wallace v. Wallace, 221 Ga. 510, 145 S.E.2d 546 (1965), see 3 Ga. St. B.J. 219 (1966).

For note discussing legitimation of illegitimate children by subsequent marriage of parents, see 4 Ga. L. Rev. 383 (1970).

For note discussing the admissibility of husband and wife’s testimony concerning nonaccess in determining the legitimacy of a child, see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 448 (1970).

For note on the role of a judicial determination of paternity in the inheritance rights of illegitimate children in Georgia, see 16 Ga. L. Rev. 171 (1981).

For article, “Georgia Inheritance Rights of Children Born Out of Wedlock,” see 23 Ga. St. B.J. 28 (1986).

For case comment, “In re Baby Girl Eason: Balancing Three Competing Interests in Third Party Adoptions,” see 22 Ga. L. Rev. 1217 (1988).

For article, “Who is Georgia’s Mother? Gestational Surrogacy: A Formulation for Georgia’s Legislature,” see 38 Ga. L. Rev. 395 (2003).

For annual survey of domestic relations law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 221 (2004).