Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 19. DOMESTIC RELATIONS · Chapter 8. ADOPTION · Article 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

19-8-15. Objections to petition for adoption.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

(a)
As used in this Code section, the term “family member” shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 19-7-3.#
(b)
If a legal mother and biological father, whether he was a legal father or not, of the child who is the subject of the proceeding are both deceased, regardless of whether either individual had surrendered his or her parental rights or had his or her rights terminated, it shall be the privilege of any individual related by blood to such child to file objections to the petition for adoption.#
(c)
A family member with visitation rights to a child granted pursuant to Code Section 19-7-3 shall have the privilege to file objections to the petition for adoption if neither parent has any further rights to the child and if the petition for adoption has been filed by a blood relative of the child. The court, after hearing such objections, shall determine, in its discretion, whether or not such objections constitute a good reason for denying the petition for adoption and the court shall have the authority to grant or continue such visitation rights of the family member of the child in the adoption order in the event the adoption by the blood relative is approved by the court.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 19-8-15, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 2016, p. 87, § 3/HB 229; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 19/HB 323; Ga. L. 2018, p. 19, § 1-1/HB 159.

Law reviews

For comment on “Grandparents’ Visitation Rights in Georgia,” see 29 Emory L.J. 1083 (1980). For note on permissive intervention of grandparents in divorce proceedings, see 26 Ga. L. Rev. 787 (1992). For annual survey on domestic relations, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 81 (2018).

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t18-t19-(v16)-2022-pdf.pdf, Volume V16, 2022 edition, page 843; merge action: annotated; file SHA-256 eddc877da9f2.

Ask about this section

The answer is drawn from this section and, when they fit, the other sections of its chapter. It quotes the text and names the section for each claim. Not legal advice.