Georgia § 19-8-22 - Recognition and effect of order by court or administrative body within or outside United States.

§ 19-8-22. Recognition and effect of order by court or administrative body within or outside United States.

A decree of a court or an administrative proceeding terminating the relationship of parent and child, establishing the relationship of guardian and ward, or establishing the relationship of parent and child by adoption, issued pursuant to due process of law by a court or administrative body of any other jurisdiction within or outside the United States, or the clear and irrevocable release or consent to adoption by the guardian of a child when the appointment of the guardian has been certified by the appropriate and legally authorized court or agency of the government of the foreign country, shall be recognized in this state; and the rights and obligations of the parties as to matters within the jurisdiction of this state shall be determined as though any such decree were issued by a court of this state and any such consent or release shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of Code Sections 19-8-4, 19-8-5, 19-8-6, 19-8-7, 19-8-8, and 19-8-12. Any adoption proceeding in this state in which a final order of adoption was entered by the court prior to April 1, 1986, and to which subsection (a) of this Code section would have been applicable if said subsection had been effective at the time such proceeding was filed or concluded shall be governed by subsection (a) of this Code section. (Code 1981, § 19-8-22 , enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Ga. L. 2018, p. 19, § 1-1/HB 159.) The 2018 amendment, effective September 1, 2018, in subsection (a), inserted "or an administrative proceeding" near the beginning, inserted ", establishing the relationship of guardian and ward,", inserted "or administrative body" near the middle, substituted "when the appointment" for "where the appointment" in the middle, and inserted a comma following "foreign country"; in subsection (b), deleted ", as amended," following "subsection" in the middle, deleted "the provisions of" following "governed by" near the end, and deleted ", as amended" at the end; and deleted former subsection (c), which read: "Any adoption proceeding pending in a court of competent jurisdiction in this state in which no final order of adoption has been entered as of April 1, 1986, to which the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section are applicable shall be governed by the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, as amended."