Version 1.1.20
General Civil and Domestic Relations Case Filing Instructions
1. Provide the class of court and county in which the case is being filed.
2. Provide the plaintiff’s and defendant’s names.
3. Provide the plaintiff’s attorney’s name and State Bar number. If you are representing yourself, provide your own name and check the self-
represented box.
4. Provide the primary type of case by checking only one appropriate box. Cases can be either general civil or domestic relations and only one type
of primary case within those categories. Check the case type that most accurately describes the primary case. If applicable, check one sub-type
under the primary case type. If you are making more than one type of claim, check the case type that involves the largest amount of damages
or the one you consider most important. See below for definitions of each case type.
5. Provide an answer to the four questions by checking the appropriate boxes and/or filling in the appropriate lines.
Case Type Definitions
General Civil Cases
Automobile Tort: Any tort case involving personal injury, property
damage, or wrongful death resulting from alleged negligent operation
of a motor vehicle.
Civil Appeal: Any case disputing the finding of a limited jurisdiction trial
court, department, or administrative agency.
Contempt/Modification/Other Post-Judgment: Any case alleging
failure to comply with a previously existing court order, seeking to
change the terms of a previously existing court order, or any other post-
judgment activity in a general civil case.
Contract: Any case involving a dispute over an agreement between two
or more parties.
Garnishment: Any case where, after a monetary judgment, a third party
who has money or other property belonging to the defendant is
required to turn over such money or property to the court.
General Tort: Any tort case that is not defined or is not attributable to
one of the other types of torts listed.
Habeas Corpus: Any case designed to review the legality of the
detention or imprisonment of an individual, but not the question of his
or her guilt or innocence.
Injunction/Mandamus/Other Writ: Cases involving a written court
order directing a specific person to perform or refrain from performing
a specific act.
Landlord/Tenant: Any case involving a landlord/tenant dispute if the
landlord removed a tenant and his or her property from the premises or
placed a lien on the tenant’s property to repay a debt.
Medical Malpractice Tort: Any tort case that alleges misconduct or
negligence by a person in the medical profession acting in a professional
capacity, such as doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, dentists, etc.
Product Liability Tort: Any tort case that alleges an injury to a person
was caused by the manufacturer or seller of an article due to a defect in,
or the condition of, the article sold or an alleged breach of duty to
provide suitable instructions to prevent injury.
Real Property: Any case involving disputes over the ownership, use,
boundaries, or value of land.
Restraining Petition: Any petition for a restraining order that does not
result from a domestic altercation or is not between parties in a domestic
relationship.
Other General Civil: Any case that does not fit into one of the other
defined case categories in which a plaintiff is requesting the
enforcement or protection of a right or the redress or prevention of a
wrong.
Domestic Relations Cases
Adoption: Cases involving a request for the establishment of a new and
permanent parent-child relationship between persons not biologically
parent and child.
Contempt: Any case alleging failure to comply with a previously existing
court order. If the contempt action deals with the non-payment of child
support, medical support, or alimony, also check the corresponding sub-
type box.
Dissolution/Divorce/Separate Maintenance/Alimony: Any case
involving the dissolution of a marriage or the establishment of alimony
or separate maintenance.
Family Violence Petition: Any case in which a protective order from a
family member or domestic partner is requested.
Modification: Any case seeking to change the terms of a previously
existing court order. If the modification deals with custody, parenting
time, or visitation, also check the corresponding sub-type box.
Pater
nity/Legitimation: Cases involving establishment of the identity
and/or responsibilities of the father of a minor child or a determination
of biological offspring.
Support – IV-D: Cases filed by the Georgia Department of Human
Services to request maintenance of a minor child by a person who is
required under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act of 1973 (42 USC §§
651-669b) to provide such maintenance.
Support – Private (non-IV-D): Cases filed to request maintenance of a
parent/guardian or a minor child by a person who is required by a law
other than Title IV-D of the Social Security Act of 1973 (42 USC §§ 651-
669b) to provide such maintenance.
Other Domestic Relations: Domestic relations cases that do not
adequately fit into any of the other case types, including name changes.
Please note: This form is for statistical purposes only. It shall have no legal effect in a case. The information collected on this form is used solely for court
administration purposes. This form does not supplement or replace the filing and service of pleadings or other papers as required by law or court rules.
Information on this form will not be entered into evidence.
