Title 15, Chapter 11A, Section 5
( 15-11A-5)
(a) The family court division shall have the jurisdiction of the
superior court and as provided in this Code section. (b) When a petition or case is filed in the superior court relating
to divorce or where issues affecting children are involved,
including, but not limited to, child support, child custody,
visitation, child abuse, child molestation, domestic violence,
legitimacy, paternity, adoption, abandonment, or contempt or
modification relative to such cases, the chief judge of the superior
court or an intake case manager designated by such chief judge may
assign the case to the family court division. The Superior Court of
Fulton County, State Court of Fulton County, Juvenile Court of
Fulton County, Probate Court of Fulton County, Magistrate Court of
Fulton County, and City of Atlanta Municipal Court are authorized to
transfer ancillary cases related to the same family to the family
court division. Such ancillary cases shall include but not be
limited to any cases involving deprivation, delinquency involving
behavioral issues, truancy, unruliness, abandonment, neglect, or
termination of parental rights cases pending in the Juvenile Court
of Fulton County; cases involving domestic violence, abandonment, or
child support enforcement cases pending in the State Court of Fulton
County; adult or minor guardianship cases pending in the Probate
Court of Fulton County; or domestic violence cases pending in the
Magistrate Court of Fulton County or City of Atlanta Municipal
Court. In addition, any child support enforcement case from the
jurisdiction of the State of Georgia shall be considered an
ancillary case subject to transfer to the family court division.
Whenever a dispute arises between the family court division and
another court in Fulton County as to whether a case is an ancillary
case which should be transferred to the family court division, such
case may be transferred to the family court division pursuant to an
order for transfer issued by the chief judge of the Atlanta Judicial
Circuit. (c) The judges of the family court division shall have the same
authority, powers, and duties in the consideration and disposition
of cases in the family court division as any judge of the Superior
Court of Fulton County, State Court of Fulton County, Juvenile Court
of Fulton County, Probate Court of Fulton County, Magistrate Court
of Fulton County, or City of Atlanta Municipal Court. |