Who can serve a Petition for Divorce in Georgia?
In Georgia, the procedure for service of process (i.e. service of divorce papers) on a party to a divorce action is the same as in any civil action in this state. According to Georgia law, “Process shall be served by: (1) The sheriff of the county where the action is brought or where the defendant is found or by such sheriff’s deputy; (2) The marshal or sheriff of the court or by such official’s deputy; (3) Any citizen of the United States specially appointed by the court for that purpose; (4) A person who is not a party and is not younger than 18 years of age and has been appointed as a permanent process server by the court in which the action is brought; or (5) A certified process server under Code Section 9-11-4.1, provided that sheriff of the county for which process is to be served allows such servers to serve process in such county.” OCGA §9-11-4(c).
In divorces and other family law cases, it is often prudent to have a certified process server, rather than a marshal or sheriff, serve your spouse. A marshal or sheriff will be in uniform when serving the papers, while a certified process server is usually in plain clothes. If you are having your spouse served while he/she is at work, it will cause less of a scene for a plain-clothes person to give him/her a stack of papers rather than a uniformed officer. In addition, if your spouse is avoiding service, you can often direct a certified process server exactly where to go and when to give him the best chance of effecting service. You can even give him the make and model of your spouse’s car and a photograph of your spouse. Often, a sheriff and/or marshal is unable to give your case this extra attention that may be necessary to effect service. For the above reasons, though a certified process server is more expensive, it may be money well spent in your divorce case.
