Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog

In Georgia, your spouse generally has thirty days to respond to your discovery requests, such as interrogatories, request to produce documents, or request to admit. There are several key exceptions to this rule including: when discovery is filed with a complaint (in which case the deadline is generally forty-five days); when the requests are served by mail you have three additional days to respond under the mail rule; and the trial court can always shortened or lengthen the amount of time to respond in its discretion. Also, in Fulton County, there is an additional exception for the mandatory interrogatories and request to produce issued by the county that generally requires compliance within thirty days.

But what happens when someone fails to respond to the discovery responses? First, by failing to respond, a party can waive certain objections to discovery request. Second, the party that is seeking the responses can seek the court’s attention to force a response.

Seeking the court’s intervention in a discovery matter can be a rather lengthy process. Uniform Superior Court Rule 6.4(b) generally requires that you first make a good faith effort to obtain the discovery responses without the court’s intervention. Usually, this attempt is made in writing to provide for assurances that the other party understands the severity of your request and to provide you with documentary evidence that the attempt was made.

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During a civil case, one of the party’s attorneys may suggest using one of the discovery procedures to obtain information from the opposing side. Discovery is especially useful in highly contested divorce cases because the opposing party will be required by law to disclose information to their spouse’s attorney. According to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26(c), there are four types of discovery. Three of the discovery methods are written while the remaining one is done in person. The three written types of discovery are:

1. Interrogatories (see O.C.G.A. § 9-11-33): Interrogatories are questions that one spouse may ask to the other spouse requesting certain information. Most interrogatories request such things as names and addresses of certain witnesses vital to the case, employment history, and the names and addresses of anyone with whom the opposing spouse may have had sexual relations during the parties’ marriage. According to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-33(a)(1), each side is limited to only fifty interrogatories, including any subparts. Each of the parties’ attorneys can ask all fifty interrogatories at one time or he or she can split them up and ask them at different points throughout the discovery process.
2. Requests for Production of Documents (see O.C.G.A. § 9-11-34): Typically, when an attorney decides to send the opposing party a set of Interrogatories, he usually sends Requests for Production of Documents along with them. When an attorney would like to see a specific document, such as the spouse’s paystub, the parties’ tax return, bank statements, or cell phone records, he or she will ask the opposing attorney to give them a copy of these documents in the Request for Production of Documents. The reason that the Requests for Production of Documents are sent in conjunction with the Interrogatories is because the attorney may ask for copies of documents that he or she previously asked about in the Interrogatories. The attorney, however, is not required to do so. Unlike Interrogatories, there is no set limit on the number of Requests for Production of Documents the attorney may ask.
3. Requests for Admissions (see O.C.G.A. §9-11-36): Out of the four types of discovery, attorneys send Requests for Admissions the least. Requests for Admissions are basically statements that one party may ask to another party and he or she must admit or deny the statements under oath. An attorney may send Requests for Admissions to the other side if he or she wants the truth from the other side, such as if one party had sexual relations with someone other than his or her spouse during the marriage. Like Requests for Production of Documents, there is no limit on the number of Requests for Admissions that you can send to the opposing side during the discovery process.

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