5.6 Citations

(A) Unless the court specifically assumes the responsibility, it is the responsibility of the petitioner to prepare a proper citation. (B) Every citation shall include a statement that all objections to the petition must be in writing, setting forth the grounds of any such objections, and must be filed with the court at or before the time stated in the citation. (C) Unless the court specifically assumes the responsibility, it is the responsibility of the petitioner to see that all citations which must be personally served are delivered to the proper sheriff's office or special agent for service of process. (D) Unless the court specifically assumes the responsibility, it is the responsibility of the moving party, in connection with any citation which must be served by mail, including without limitation a citation concerning an application for year's support, to provide to the court a properly stamped envelope, addressed to each interested party, with the return address of the probate court appearing thereon. (E) Unless the court directs otherwise, the court will deliver all citations which are to be published in the county where the petition is filed to the legal newspaper of that county. (F) If a citation is to be published only one time, then it shall be published at least ten (10) days in advance of the date established as the deadline for filing objections. (G) The court may set a deadline by which service documents must be delivered to the court. 5.7 Settlement agreements. Probate courts shall have the power to approve settlement agreements as provided by law. 11 5.8 Transfer/change of venue. (A) Subject to the provisions of OCGA § 9-11-12 and paragraph (C) of this rule, a timely motion in any pending civil action or proceeding (1) by any party, that jurisdiction is lacking or that venue is improper, or (2) by the court, sua sponte, that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, shall be treated as a motion to transfer the action to another court, whether in the same or another county of this state. (B) The moving party shall specify the court(s) having jurisdiction and in which venue properly would lie. (C) If the basis of the motion is that a party necessary to the court's jurisdiction has been dismissed during or at the conclusion of the trial, the motion shall be made immediately and orally; any opposition shall be made orally. Should the motion to transfer be granted as to the remaining parties the claim against the party dismissed shall be severed, so that the order of dismissal will be final for purposes of appeal. (D) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, notice of a written motion to transfer shall be served upon all parties, including any who failed to file pleadings in the matter at least ten (10) days before the motion is heard. A party opposing a written motion to transfer shall notify the court and all other parties in writing within ten (10) days after service upon that party of the motion to transfer; such notice shall designate the basis upon which it is claimed that the court in which the action pends has jurisdiction and upon which venue is claimed to be proper. (E) When a motion to transfer is filed, the court may stay all other proceedings in the pending action until determination of the motion. (F) No action or proceeding may be transferred except upon written order of the court in which the action pends (transferor court), reasonable notice of which shall be given to all parties. This order shall specify the court to which the matter is to be transferred (transferee court), and shall state that unless plaintiff pays all accrued court costs within twenty (20) days of mailing or delivery of the cost bill to plaintiff, the action shall automatically stand dismissed without prejudice. The court ruling upon a motion to transfer may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party; if the court grants the motion, transfer costs of $50 shall be taxed, unless the court expressly determines otherwise, in its discretion. (G) When an order transferring an action is filed with the clerk of the court entering such order, the clerk shall promptly compute the court costs, including the costs incident to preparing and transferring the record as provided in paragraph (H) of this rule, and shall notify counsel for plaintiff (or, the plaintiff, if there is no counsel of record) in writing of the amount of the court costs. Plaintiff shall pay the costs within twenty (20) days of mailing or delivery of the cost bill; if costs are not paid within that time, the action shall automatically stand dismissed, without prejudice. (H) Upon timely payment of costs, the clerk of the transferor court shall make and retain copies of (1) the complaint or initial pleading, (2) the motion to transfer, if in writing, and (3) the order of transfer. The originals of all pleadings, orders, depositions and other papers on file shall be indexed and certified by the clerk of the transferor court and transmitted, with the transfer cost (if applicable), to the clerk of the transferee court in the manner provided by law for transmittal of records to appellate courts. (I) Upon receipt of the items specified in paragraph (H) of this rule, the clerk of the transferee court shall assign the action an appropriate number and notify all parties and their 12 respective counsel of record thereof. The action thereafter shall continue in the transferee court as though initially commenced there; all items specified in paragraph (H) of this rule shall be deemed amended accordingly. It shall not be necessary that service of process be perfected a second time upon parties defendant, except that any publication required to be made in a newspaper in the proper venue shall be republished. Any interlocutory or other order theretofore entered in the action, upon the motion of any party, shall be reviewed, and thereafter reissued or vacated by the court to which the action was transferred. 5.9 Standard forms. (A) A form, including any instructions, shall be considered adopted when it has been approved by a majority of a quorum of probate judges present at a meeting of the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia. The forms committee members may approve changes to forms and instructions. (B) The effective date of any such standard form shall be immediately following the date approved by the Supreme Court. Each newly-adopted form will either be published in full in an issue of such Advance Sheets or be available in each probate court of this state, at least one month prior to its effective date. Dissemination to each probate court may be accomplished electronically. A paper copy may be sent to any probate court upon request. (C) These rules shall be construed to allow and facilitate the use of technology in electronic document preparation. No standard forms or these rules shall require the filing party to mark or identify any changes in such forms unless they are material. Changes in such forms which are grammatical, changes in gender, changes in singular and plural, omission of optional or alternative language and the inclusion of variable information such as names and addresses shall not be deemed material; however, the format and sequence of the forms shall be preserved as far as practical. (D) Each court will have a supply of printed copies of adopted standard forms. Each standard form will have a title and will contain numbered paragraphs. When an available standard form is not used for a probate court procedure, then the content of the substituted pleading or other document must conform to the standard form, indicating all material information added to or deleted from the standard form. Each material addition must be underlined, placed in bold or all capital letters, or otherwise clearly indicated, and material deletions must be shown with a single strike through or otherwise clearly indicated. At the end of any such document, the attorney must sign the following statement: “I certify that the content of the foregoing is identical in all material respects with Georgia probate court standard form entitled, _____________________, except for additions or deletions indicated as required by the Uniform Probate Court Rules.” For purposes of this paragraph, instructions shall not be deemed to be a part of any standard form. (E) With respect to any procedure for which a standard form has been adopted, the court may, in its discretion, process or decline to process any document not on an available standard form and which does not contain the certificate described above. (F) Any document prepared in accordance with this rule and any other applicable rules shall be acceptable in any probate court in this state. (G) For the purposes of this rule, any change or modification of a standard form which changes only the format in which dates are set forth shall not be considered to be the adoption of a new form, and any existing standard form may be modified or amended solely for the purpose 13 of changing the format in which dates are set forth without affecting the effective date or otherwise changing the standard form. In the event such changes are made to a standard form, newly printed or created forms may be distributed to and by probate courts in lieu of older forms without such changes; however, older versions of standard forms not containing such changes shall be acceptable for filing in all probate courts until existing supplies are depleted. Any change or modification of a standard form which changes only the format in which dates are set forth shall not be considered to be a substituted document such as to require the certificate required under paragraph (D) of this rule. (H) Minor changes in spelling, grammar, syntax, or punctuation which does not effect a procedural or substantive change to a form may be made by the standing Forms and Rules Committee of the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia and may be submitted to the Supreme Court for approval without action by a quorum of the full council.