Very little. Georgia has no general rule requiring spouses to hand over documents and information automatically, so in most cases you get only what you ask for.
The One Disclosure the Rules Require
Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.2 requires all parties in an action for child support, alimony, equitable division of property, modification, or attorney’s fees to serve on the opposing party, ahead of any temporary or final hearing, an affidavit specifying his or her financial circumstances in the form the rule sets out. Where child support is at issue, the worksheet and schedules go with it. Nobody has to request that affidavit.
Everything Else Has to Be Requested
The discovery provisions of Georgia’s Civil Practice Act, OCGA 9-11-26 through 9-11-37, work only when a party uses them. Bank statements, retirement account records, text messages, and tax returns do not arrive because your spouse knows you want them. They arrive because someone served interrogatories, a request for production, a request for admission, or a notice of deposition. Some superior courts add an automatic exchange of financial documents by standing order, so it is worth reading whatever order the court entered when your case was filed.
Updating an Answer You Already Gave
OCGA 9-11-26(e) provides that a party who gave a response “that was complete when made is under no duty to supplement his response to include information thereafter acquired,” with narrow exceptions. One of them, quoted by the Court of Appeals in Anglin v. Smith, 346 Ga. App. 456 (2018), applies where a party “knows that the response, though correct when made, is no longer true and the circumstances are such that a failure to amend the response is, in substance, a knowing concealment.”
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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!