Georgia § 18-4-70 - Required use of forms.

§ 18-4-70. Required use of forms.

For the purpose of this chapter, the forms contained in this article shall be required to be used; provided, however, that a party may use its own format so long as it contains all of the information in the form. A defendant may use the form provided in Code Section 18-4-82 to file a claim or may use the defendant's own pleading. When a case involves more than one plaintiff, defendant, or garnishee, or necessitates the inclusion of additional information, the form may be expanded to allow for the information pertaining to all parties and such additional information to be displayed. Each summons of garnishment issued in an action shall display in the caption the name of the garnishee on whom that summons is to be served. The certificates of service provided within the forms in this article are included as examples. A party may modify a certificate of service in accordance with the circumstances of the case, including, but not limited to, transmission by e-mail as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 9-11-5 or by court rule. A court may combine multiple forms. (Code 1981, § 18-4-70 , enacted by Ga. L. 2016, p. 8, § 1/SB 255; Ga. L. 2020, p. 691, § 24/SB 443.) The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), substituted "plaintiff, defendant, or garnishee," for "plaintiff or defendant" in the third sentence and added the fourth sentence.