A minor child’s domicile in Georgia is fixed by statute, and the child has no say in it.
When the Parents Have Custody
OCGA 19-2-4(a) gives three rules. If the parents are domiciled in the same county, “the domicile of that child shall be that of the parents.” If the parents “are divorced, separated, or widowed,” or if one parent is not domiciled in the same county as the other, “the child’s domicile shall be that of the custodial parent.” And “[t]he domicile of a minor child born out of wedlock shall be that of the child’s mother.”
When Someone Else Has Custody
OCGA 19-2-4(b) covers the rest. Where the parents “have voluntarily relinquished custody of the child to a third person or have been deprived of custody by court order, the child’s domicile shall be that of the person having legal custody of the child.” If there is no legal custodian, it is the guardian’s, so long as the guardian is domiciled in Georgia. If there is neither, the child’s domicile is “determined as if he were an adult.”
For example, in In the Interest of K. M. L., 237 Ga. App. 662 (1999), a juvenile court placed children in the legal custody of the Cobb County department of family and children services, and their mother was in the process of moving to Tennessee. The Court of Appeals cited OCGA 19-2-4(b) in holding that the children still resided in Cobb County.
A Child Cannot Change It
OCGA 19-2-6(a) provides that “[a] person whose domicile for any reason is dependent upon that of another cannot effect a change of his own domicile.” So a child’s domicile moves when the parent’s or custodian’s does, and not because the child moves in with someone else or wants to live somewhere else.
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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!