2022 Georgia Code
Title 39 - Minors
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 39-1-1. Age of Legal Majority; Residence of Persons in State for Purpose of Attending School
- The age of legal majority in this state is 18 years; until that age all persons are minors.
- Nothing in this Code section shall be construed automatically to render an individual a resident of this state when that individual is in the state for the purpose of attending school. In the case of such individual, his residence will be considered to be the state in which his parents reside if under the laws of that state the individual would still be considered a minor and he is incapable of proving his emancipation.
History. Orig. Code 1863, § 1742; Code 1868, § 1782; Code 1873, § 1791; Code 1882, § 1791; Civil Code 1895, § 2500; Civil Code 1910, § 3019; Code 1933, § 74-104; Ga. L. 1972, p. 193, § 1.
Cross references.
Rights of minors generally, § 1-2-8 .
Age restrictions in regard to purchase of alcoholic beverages, § 3-3-23 .
Effect of minority status on tolling of limitations, § 9-3-90 .
Service of process on resident minors over 14 temporarily outside state, § 9-10-70 .
Appointment of guardian ad litem for minor not otherwise represented in court action, § 9-11-17 .
Capacity of minors to enter into contracts, § 13-3-20 et seq.
Termination of juvenile’s order of disposition, § 15-11-443 .
Referral of juveniles to adult services upon reaching age of majority, § 15-11-451 .
Minimum age at which person may be held criminally responsible for his actions, § 16-3-1 .
Offenses relating to exhibition of lewd or indecent materials to minors, § 16-12-101 et seq.
Penalty for knowingly selling or delivering to minor any drug-related object, § 16-13-1 .
Domicile of minors generally, § 19-2-4 .
Age at which persons may contract marriage without parental consent, § 19-3-2 .
Parental control of children under age of majority, § 19-7-1 .
Age groups to which compulsory school attendance law applies, § 20-2-690 .
Further provisions regarding determination of resident status of university students for tuition or fee purposes, § 20-3-66 .
Guardians of minors, T. 29, C. 4.
Minimum age requirements for issuance of driver’s license, § 40-5-22 .
Applications by minors for instruction permits or drivers’ licenses, § 40-5-26 .
Making of certain gifts to persons under age 21, § 44-5-110 et seq.
Maximum age for pleading infancy as defense to tort action, § 51-11-6.
Minimum age at which person considered capable of making will, § 53-4-10.
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1972, p. 193, § 10, effective July 1, 1972, not codified by the General Assembly, provided that the purpose of the Act was to reduce the age of legal majority from 21 years of age to 18 years of age so that all persons, upon reaching the age of 18, would have the rights, privileges, powers, duties, responsibilities, and liabilities previously applicable to persons 21 years of age or over. The section further provided that the Act was not to be construed to have the effect of changing the age from 21 to 18 with respect to any legal instrument or court decree in existence prior to July 1, 1972, when the instrument referred only to “the age of majority” or words of similar import, except that any guardianship of the person or property of a minor under the provisions of Title 49 of the 1933 Code, whether such guardianship was created by court order or decree entered before or after July 1, 1972, or under the will of a testator which was executed after July 1, 1972, would terminate when the ward for whom such guardianship was created reached 18 years of age.
Law reviews.
For comment on Barnwell v. Cordle, 438 F.2d 236 (5th Cir. 1971), refusing to apply doctrine of parental immunity to suit brought by minor against father’s estate, see 8 Ga. St. B.J. 544 (1972).
For article, “The Georgia Power of Attorney Act,” see 24 Ga. St. B. J. 20 (Dec. 2018).
