You do not need a named legal defense to fight a Georgia divorce. Filing an answer that denies what your spouse alleged is itself a defense.
What a Denial Accomplishes
OCGA 19-5-8 provides that “the allegations of the pleadings shall be established to the satisfaction of the court by the verified pleadings, by affidavit, by evidentiary hearing, or otherwise.”
So a denial shifts nothing onto you. It obligates your spouse to come forward with proof of the ground pleaded.
Proving the Ground Does Not Guarantee a Divorce
Even proof is not the end of it. In Benefield v. Benefield, 224 Ga. 208 (1968), a husband and wife each sued the other for divorce and the cases were consolidated. The trial judge charged the jury that it was to decide “which of these parties is entitled to a divorce on which petition.”
The Georgia Supreme Court held that instruction was reversible error, because “the jury is never required to nor must it automatically find for divorce but may or is authorized to do so where the evidence establishes the ground upon which the action is brought.” The charge “left the jury no alternative but to return a verdict for one or the other of the parties contrary to the law of this State.”
You Can Make Your Spouse Be Specific
A divorce petition often pleads a ground in the bare words of the statute. OCGA 19-5-5(c) lets you do something about that. Before trial you may file “a written demand for a detailed statement of the facts on which the grounds in the petition are predicated,” serve it on your spouse or your spouse’s lawyer, and “the facts demanded shall be added to the petition in the form of an amendment thereto.”
That tells you what you actually have to answer.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!