Not furnishing your financial affidavit can be punished as contempt of court.
What the Rule Allows
Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.2 gives the judge three responses to a party who fails to furnish the required financial information, and all three are discretionary: (1) the offending party may be subjected to the penalties of contempt, (2) the hearing may be continued until the information is furnished, and (3) the court may impose other sanctions or remedies it considers appropriate.
Notice that dismissal is not on the list. The rule contemplates delay and punishment, not the loss of your case, so the usual cost of a missing affidavit is a continued hearing and another trip to the courthouse.
No Automatic Consequence
Georgia’s appellate courts have not read these filing requirements as carrying a built-in penalty. In Hendry v. Hendry, 292 Ga. 1 (2012), a husband argued that his wife’s child support worksheet should not have been used because she produced it only during closing argument. The Georgia Supreme Court observed that neither the statute nor Rule 24.2 “states the consequence of failing to file the worksheet and schedules, or of filing them in an untimely manner,” treated the timing provision as directory, and found no injury because ample evidence had already been presented at the final hearing.
So the question a judge actually asks is whether the other side was harmed. A party who files late but whose numbers were already known is in a very different position from one who withholds the information and then benefits from the gap at the hearing.
Even so, the safest course is to file on time and, if you cannot, to say so before the hearing rather than after.
Contact Us
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!