2021 Georgia Code
Title 19 - Domestic Relations
Chapter 8 - Adoption
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 19-8-17. Report and Findings of Investigating Agent; Dismissal of Petition; Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem

1. The report and findings of the investigating agent appointed by the court pursuant to Code Section 19-8-16 shall include, among other things, the following:
   1. Verification of allegations contained in the petition for adoption;
   2. Circumstances under which the child came to be placed for adoption;
   3. Whether each prospective adoptive parent is financially, physically, and mentally able to have the permanent custody of the child; in considering financial ability any adoption supplement approved by the department shall be taken into account;
   4. The physical and mental condition of the child, insofar as this can be determined by the aid of competent medical authority;
   5. Whether or not the adoption is in the best interests of the child, including his or her general care;
   6. Suitability of the home to the child;
   7. If applicable, whether the identity and location of a biological father who is not a legal father are known or ascertainable and whether the requirements of Code Section 19-8-12 were complied with;
   8. Any other information that might be disclosed by the investigation that in the agent's opinion would be of value or interest to the court in deciding the case; and
   9. Any other information that might be disclosed by the investigation in response to any specific issue that the court requested be investigated in its order appointing such agent.
2. If the report of the investigating agent disapproves of the adoption of the child, motion may be made by the investigating agent to the court to dismiss the petition for adoption and the court after hearing such motion shall be authorized to dismiss such petition.If the court denies the motion to dismiss, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem who may appeal the ruling to the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court, as in other cases, as provided by law.
3. If at any time it appears to the court that the interests of the child may conflict with those of any petitioner, the court may, in its discretion, appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the child and the cost thereof shall be a charge upon the funds of the county.

(Code 1981, §19-8-17, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2505, § 2; Ga. L. 2018, p. 19, § 1-1/HB 159.)

The 2018 amendment, effective September 1, 2018, in subsection (a), in the introductory language, substituted "agent appointed by the court pursuant to Code Section 19-8-16" for "agency"; added "for adoption" at the end of paragraph (a)(1); substituted "prospective" for "proposed" near the beginning of paragraph (a)(3); inserted "or her" in paragraph (a)(5); in paragraph (a)(7), substituted "a biological father who is not a" for "the biological father who is not the" and deleted "and" at the end; in paragraph (a)(8), inserted "in the agent's opinion", deleted "any" preceding "value", and added "; and" at the end; added paragraph (a)(9); in subsection (b), in the first sentence, twice deleted "agency or independent" following "investigating", inserted "for adoption", substituted "hearing such motion shall be authorized to dismiss such petition" for "hearing is authorized to do so", and deleted "Georgia" preceding "Court of Appeals" in the second sentence.

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, opinions under Ga. L. 1941, p. 300, § 8 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Word "verify" as used in Ga. L. 1941, p. 300, § 8, means to prove to be true, to confirm, substantiate, check, or test accuracy of various allegations of petition, and means more than a mere certificate by the welfare department that the petitioner, insofar as the petitioner knows, has pled the truth. 1948-49 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 613 (decided under Ga. L. 1941, p. 300, § 8 prior to revision of chapter by Ga. L. 1977, p. 201).

There is no requirement that names of natural parents be disclosed and in absence of such an affirmative requirement, such information need not be disclosed in the report. 1948-49 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 278 (decided under Ga. L. 1941, p. 300, § 8 prior to revision of chapter by Ga. L. 1977, p. 201).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 2 Am. Jur. 2d, Adoption, §§ 113, 129, 131.

- 2 C.J.S., Adoption of Persons, §§ 46, 48.

- Religion as factor in adoption proceedings, 48 A.L.R.3d 383.

Liability of guardian ad litem for infant party to civil suit for negligence in connection with suit, 14 A.L.R.5th 929.