With one mediator, or with your own attorney
Amicable Divorce in Georgia
If you and your spouse mostly agree, one neutral mediator can guide you both to a full agreement, often in a single weekend. If you would rather have your own attorney, you can settle that way too.
Mediate Saturday → Review Sunday → File Monday
You don't have to be friends.
An amicable divorce means the two of you settle the terms yourselves, out of court, and part on decent terms. You can disagree about money or the parenting schedule and still do this. It takes two people who have decided the divorce is happening and will share their full finances with each other, and who would rather decide the terms than have a judge decide them. The agreement can be finished in a weekend, and a judge can sign the final decree 31 days after you file.
Prefer to talk first? Schedule your free consultation, or take the quiz.
Quiz
Is an Amicable Divorce Right for Us?
9 quick questions. Takes about 2 minutes.
What are you hoping to find?
Mediation or your own attorney
Both are amicable divorces. One uses a neutral mediator, the other your own attorney.
- The Weekend Divorce, with one mediator. One neutral mediator sits with both of you and works through property, debts, support, and, if you have children, the parenting plan. Mediate Saturday, complete the paperwork Sunday, file Monday.
- With your own attorney. You have a lawyer looking out for your interests while the two of you settle the terms. The goal is to settle without going to court, and if the case does turn contested, the same attorney stays with you.
Take the two-minute quiz to see which one fits, and we will confirm it in your consultation.
The amicable divorce process in Georgia
- Agree on the terms. Property, debts, support, and the parenting plan if you have children. The mediator or your attorney helps you settle them.
- Put it in writing. The terms go into a written settlement agreement, with a parenting plan and child support worksheet if you have children, in the form a Georgia court expects.
- File in your county. One of you must have lived in Georgia for six months before filing.
- Wait 31 days. Georgia requires 31 days after filing before a judge can sign the final decree.
Collaborative divorce
In Georgia, collaborative divorce means each spouse hires a collaboratively trained attorney and both sign an agreement to stay out of court. The process has become rare here. In mediation, the two of you reach the same kind of agreement with one neutral mediator, often in a weekend. Take the two-minute quiz to see whether mediation fits you.
Your guide
Jeanette Soltys has practiced family law in Georgia for twenty years and is a Certified Amicable Divorce Professional and member of the Amicable Divorce Network. She built this process for couples who already agree the divorce does not need to be a fight.
Amicable divorce questions
- Can we get divorced in Georgia without going to court?
- Yes, when you agree on the terms. The paperwork is filed with the court and a judge signs the decree, but there is no trial.
- How long does an amicable divorce take in Georgia?
- The agreement can be finished in a weekend. Georgia then requires 31 days after filing before a judge can sign the final decree.
- How much does an amicable divorce cost?
- We tell you the fee in your free consultation.
- What if we agree on most things but not everything?
- Bring the open questions to mediation, and the mediator helps you settle them.
- Do we each need a lawyer?
- No. The two of you can reach the whole agreement with one neutral mediator, and either of you can have your own attorney review it before you file. If you want your own lawyer from the start, choose "my own attorney" in the quiz.
- We have children. Does that change things?
- The parenting plan and child support are part of the same agreement. You work out the parenting schedule and how major decisions get made, and the plan goes to the judge with the rest of the case.
- Does it have to happen over a weekend?
- No. We designed the process to fit a weekend, and it works on whatever days fit the two of you.
- Is mediation right when there has been abuse?
- No. Where there is a history of violence, threats, or coercion, we do not recommend mediation. If that is your situation, we will talk with you about working with your own attorney instead.
Start with a free consultation.
Tell us where the two of you stand, and we will tell you which path fits and what the next step is.