A Georgia divorce decree that awards you real estate transfers the title to you by itself. You do not need your former spouse to sign a deed.
The Decree Is the Conveyance
Under OCGA 9-11-70, where property is inside the state, a court “in lieu of directing a conveyance thereof may enter a judgment divesting the title of any party and vesting it in others; and the judgment has the effect of a conveyance executed in due form of law.”
In Elrod v. Elrod, 231 Ga. 222 (1973), a jury awarded the wife the marital home and then tried to bar her from selling it until the youngest child turned eighteen. The Georgia Supreme Court struck the restriction, holding that “[t]he decree placed title to the property in the wife just as a deed from the husband would have.”
Recording Is Not What Makes It Work
In Price v. Price, 286 Ga. 753 (2010), the Georgia Supreme Court held: “A final divorce decree which conveys property has the same force and effect as a deed and establishes title, whether or not the decree is recorded.”
Record It Anyway
A 1973 decree left the husband a life estate and the remainder to the couple’s children. Nobody recorded it. In 2005 the husband quitclaimed a half interest to his second wife and the two borrowed roughly $48,000 against the property. The children recorded the decree in 2007, after he died.
The children won against the second wife, who had paid nothing and so was not a purchaser for value. They lost to the lender, which the Court held was an innocent purchaser for value – its security deed survived. OCGA 9-11-70 says the decree, certified by the clerk, “shall be recorded in the registry of deeds in the county where the land lies.” Do that.
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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!