Georgia § 29-9-18 - Sealing of records on conservatorship or guardianship.

§ 29-9-18. Sealing of records on conservatorship or guardianship.

All of the records relating to any minor or adult guardianship or conservatorship granted under this title and all of the records relating to any adult guardianship or conservatorship transferred or accepted under Article 3 of Chapter 11 of this title shall be kept sealed, except for a record of the names and addresses of the minor, ward, and guardian or conservator and their legal counsel of record and the dates of filing, granting, terminating, transferring, and accepting the guardianship or conservatorship. The sealed records may be examined by the ward and the ward's legal counsel; the minor, the minor's parents, and the minor's legal counsel; the guardian or conservator and the guardian's or conservator's legal counsel; and any surety for the guardian or conservator and legal counsel for the surety at any time. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 29-11-5 and in subsection (c) of this Code section, a request by other interested parties to examine the sealed records shall be by petition to the court, and the ward and guardian or conservator shall have at least 30 days' prior written notice of a hearing on the petition; provided, however, that for good cause shown to the court, the court may shorten such notice period or grant the petition without notice. The matter shall come before the court in chambers. The order allowing access shall be granted upon a finding that the public interest in granting access to the sealed records clearly outweighs the harm otherwise resulting to the privacy of the person in interest, and the court shall limit the portion of the file to which access is granted to that which is required to meet the legitimate needs of the petitioner. The court, in its discretion, may assess and award costs, compensation, fees, and expenses for a proceeding under this subsection in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 29-9-3. To the extent reasonably required to facilitate any communication or fulfill any request to take any action pursuant to Chapter 11 of this title, a court of this state may disclose the records referred to in subsection (a) of this Code section to a court of another state. (Code 1981, § 29-9-18 , enacted by Ga. L. 2004, p. 161, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 715, § 7/SB 508; Ga. L. 2019, p. 693, § 31/HB 70.) The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, deleted "that is" following "conservatorship", inserted "and all of the records relating to any adult guardianship or conservatorship transferred or accepted under Article 3 of Chapter 11 of this title", and substituted "dates of filing, granting, terminating, transferring, and accepting" for "date of filing, granting, and terminating", and in the second sentence, revised punctuation, substituted "guardian's" for "guardian" in the middle, inserted "guardian or" near the end; and in subsection (b), in the first sentence, substituted "Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 29-11-5 and in subsection (c) of this Code section, a" for "A" at the beginning and added a comma following "court" in the middle and added the fourth sentence; and added subsection (c). Law reviews. - For survey article on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 60 Mercer L. Rev. 417 (2008). For annual survey on trial practice and procedure, see 61 Mercer L. Rev. 363 (2009). For annual survey on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 61 Mercer L. Rev. 385 (2009).