HB 379: Courts; divorce actions; provide certain lien protections

Under current Georgia law, attorneys can claim a lien (a legal claim against property to secure payment for services) on property involved in a lawsuit. This bill changes that rule for divorce cases specifically: an attorney could no longer use that lien law to encumber, meaning place a legal claim on, property that a court awards to the other spouse in a divorce. The bill also changes how standing orders work in domestic relations cases. These are automatic court orders, often restraining orders, issued when a divorce or custody case begins. Currently they bind the parties and people acting with them once there is notice. The bill requires that notice be given specifically to the parties and to the judge handling the case, and it adds that the order also binds the parties' attorneys and former attorneys, not just the parties themselves.

• Adds a new subsection to Georgia's attorney lien law (O.C.G.A. § 15-19-14) barring attorneys from encumbering property awarded to the other spouse in a divorce.
• Amends Georgia's domestic relations injunction law (O.C.G.A. § 19-1-1) to require notice of standing orders be given to both parties and to the judge overseeing the case.
• Expands who is bound by a domestic relations standing order to explicitly include the parties' attorneys and former attorneys.
• Repeals any existing Georgia laws that conflict with these changes.

Divorcing spouses, the attorneys who represent them in divorce cases, judges presiding over domestic relations actions, and former attorneys who previously represented a party in such a case.

The changes would limit a tool some divorce attorneys currently use to secure unpaid fees by placing claims on the opposing spouse's awarded property, and would make clear that court-issued standing orders in divorce cases apply to attorneys as well as the spouses themselves.

• Section 1 adds subsection (g) to O.C.G.A. § 15-19-14 stating the lien law does not authorize an attorney to encumber property awarded to an adverse party in a divorce.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 19-1-1(b)(1) to require notice of a standing order be given to the parties and the presiding judge, and to bind attorneys and former attorneys along with the parties.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting Georgia laws.

1. 2025-02-12House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2025-02-11House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2025-02-10House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Martin Momtahan (R, HD-017)Patrocinador principal
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)

• divorce law
• attorney liens
• family court
• domestic relations orders