Quick answer: A Georgia divorce can go forward while one spouse is deployed or stationed overseas. The deployed spouse can sign an acknowledgment of service and a settlement agreement before a military notary (10 U.S.C. § 1044a), and an uncontested case can be finished without that spouse coming home. If the service member cannot take part, the SCRA lets the court pause the case for at least 90 days (50 U.S.C. § 3932) and protects against default judgments (50 U.S.C. § 3931). Scot Sikes, a retired Army JAG, handles deployed and overseas divorces from Columbus, near Fort Benning.
Deployment, an unaccompanied tour in Korea, or an assignment in Germany does not freeze a marriage that is ending. It does change the logistics: where you can file, how papers get served, how signatures get notarized, and how the court protects a service member who cannot appear. This page walks through those issues for Georgia cases.
Where You Can File
Georgia requires that one spouse have lived in Georgia for at least six months before filing. A person who has lived on a military post in Georgia for one year may file in a county next to the post (O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2). For Fort Benning families, that usually means Muscogee or Chattahoochee County Superior Court. If neither spouse meets Georgia’s residency rule, the case may belong in the state the service member claims as legal residence, or where the other spouse lives.
Getting the Deployed Spouse Served or Signed
- Acknowledgment of service. The simplest path is for the deployed spouse to sign an acknowledgment of service and consent, which avoids formal service abroad.
- Military notaries. Judge advocates and other authorized personnel can notarize documents for service members and dependents anywhere in the world, and those notarizations are valid in Georgia (10 U.S.C. § 1044a). The installation legal assistance office is the usual place to sign.
- Formal service overseas. If the spouse will not sign, service in a foreign country may have to follow the Hague Service Convention or local law, which takes time.
The SCRA: Stays and Default Protection
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty members in civil cases, including divorce and custody:
- Stay of proceedings. A service member who knows about the case can ask the court to pause it for at least 90 days by submitting a letter explaining how military duty prevents appearance and a commander’s statement that leave is not authorized (50 U.S.C. § 3932). Additional stays are possible but not automatic.
- No default without an affidavit. Before a court enters a default judgment, the filing spouse must file an affidavit stating whether the other spouse is in the military. If the spouse is in service and has not appeared, the court must appoint an attorney before entering judgment (50 U.S.C. § 3931).
- Waiving the stay. Many deployed members choose to move forward because they want the divorce finished. An agreed divorce does not require a stay.
How an Uncontested Deployed Divorce Works
- Both spouses agree on property, debts, support and, if there are children, a parenting plan.
- The deployed spouse signs the settlement agreement, parenting plan and acknowledgment before a military notary and returns them by mail or secure scan, as the court allows.
- The case is filed in Superior Court, and the parenting seminar requirement is handled; many approved providers offer the course online.
- After the waiting period of at least 31 days from service, the judge can sign the final decree, often without a hearing or with remote testimony.
Children and Deployment
Georgia’s deployment rules in O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3(i) let the court enter a temporary custody order when a parent deploys, delegate the deploying parent’s time to a relative, and require a return to the original plan after deployment. A deployed parent may testify by phone, video or affidavit. See relocation, PCS and custody for details.
Money Issues That Are Easy to Get Wrong From Overseas
- Military retired pay. Under the USFSPA (10 U.S.C. § 1408), a Georgia court can divide disposable retired pay. For divorces after December 23, 2016, the share is based on the member’s rank and years of service at divorce (the frozen benefit rule). Direct payment from DFAS requires at least 10 years of marriage overlapping 10 years of service.
- VA disability. A court cannot order a veteran to repay a former spouse for retired pay waived to receive VA disability (Howell v. Howell, 2017).
- Survivor Benefit Plan. If former-spouse SBP coverage is ordered, the former spouse must submit a deemed election to DFAS within one year of the divorce (10 U.S.C. § 1450(f)), or it may be lost.
- Thrift Savings Plan, BAH and housing. TSP needs its own court order. A divorce changes BAH rates, TRICARE eligibility and on-post housing, so plan the timing.
- Interim support. Until there is an order, Army families fall under AR 608-99 interim support.
Talk With Scot Sikes
Consultations with Scot Sikes are $200 and cover your specific situation, the Georgia law that applies and your realistic options. Call 706-494-6900 or use the contact page. The office is at 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904, about 15 minutes from Fort Benning’s main gate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get divorced while my spouse is deployed?
Yes. If your spouse agrees and signs the paperwork before a military notary, the divorce can be completed without them returning. If they do not respond, the SCRA requires extra steps, and the court may pause the case for at least 90 days (50 U.S.C. § 3932).
Can a deployed service member stop a divorce?
Not permanently. A service member can ask for a stay of at least 90 days when military duty prevents participation, and the court may grant more time, but the SCRA delays the case rather than ending it.
Where do we file if we’re stationed overseas but from Georgia?
If either spouse has lived in Georgia for six months before filing, Georgia courts can hear the case. Service members who keep Georgia as their legal residence while stationed abroad often file here. The details depend on where each spouse lives and the children’s home state.
Who can notarize divorce papers overseas?
Military legal assistance offices and other personnel authorized under 10 U.S.C. § 1044a can notarize documents for service members and dependents worldwide, and Georgia courts accept those notarizations.
Do I have to come home for the final hearing?
Usually not in an uncontested case. Many Georgia judges sign agreed decrees without a hearing or allow remote testimony. Contested trials are different and are often scheduled around leave.
What happens to military retirement in a deployed divorce?
It is divided the same way as in any Georgia military divorce: under the USFSPA and the frozen benefit rule, based on rank and years of service at the date of divorce. The order must be drafted so DFAS will accept it.
More answers: see our Columbus, GA and Fort Benning family law FAQ.
About the author. Scot Sikes founded the Law Offices of Scot Sikes in Columbus, Georgia, in 2006. He earned his J.D. at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1999, and served as an Army judge advocate (trial counsel, Senior Defense Counsel and Deputy Staff Judge Advocate) before retiring from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 2017. His practice centers on family law, military divorce and military family law in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, and courts have qualified him as an expert witness on dividing military property in divorce. Read Scot Sikes’s full profile. Law Offices of Scot Sikes, 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904 · 706-494-6900.
Last updated November 2026. Sources: O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2 (residency and venue); 10 U.S.C. § 1044a (military notaries); 50 U.S.C. § 3932 (SCRA stay of proceedings); 50 U.S.C. § 3931 (SCRA protection against default judgments); O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3 (custody, relocation notice, deployment rules); 10 U.S.C. § 1408 (Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act); Howell v. Howell, 581 U.S. 214 (2017); 10 U.S.C. § 1450(f) (SBP deemed election). This page is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice for your situation.