The Georgia Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (DRFA) is the sworn financial disclosure form used in Georgia divorce, alimony, child support, and property-division cases. Anyone filing or responding to an action for temporary or permanent child support, alimony, equitable division of property, or attorney’s fees in a Georgia domestic relations case must complete it and file it with the clerk of court. It lists your gross income, net income, monthly expenses, assets, and liabilities, and — in cases involving child support — it works alongside the Georgia Child Support Worksheet required by O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.
This article is general information about Georgia court forms, not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney about your specific case. Court forms, rules, and procedures can change; always confirm current requirements with the clerk of court in your county or with the official Georgia Child Support Commission and Georgia Courts forms pages before filing.
Who Has to File the Georgia DRFA?
Under the DRFA’s own filing instructions, the party who files an action for temporary or permanent child support, alimony, equitable division of property, modification of child support or alimony, or attorney’s fees must file the affidavit — in the form set out on the official document — with the Clerk of Court and serve it on the opposing party. In cases involving child support, the party must also complete the schedules required by O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15.
The opposing party has to serve their own completed affidavit (and schedules, where applicable) and file it with the clerk: (a) at least five days before any temporary hearing; (b) at least five days before any court-ordered mediation; or (c) with their answer, or within thirty days of being served the complaint — whichever comes first — if there’s no temporary-award request and no mediation before trial. Any amendments to the affidavit must be exchanged at least ten days before a hearing or trial. Each party must also submit the proposed Georgia Child Support Worksheet, required by O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, at the time of hearing or trial. Failure to provide this financial information can, at the court’s discretion, lead to a contempt finding, a continuance, or other sanctions.
What the DRFA Actually Asks For
The official DRFA is organized into a caption, an income-and-needs summary, a detailed gross-income section, an assets table, a detailed monthly-expenses table, and a creditor-payments table, followed by a signature under oath. It asks for the same basic categories of financial information used across most state financial affidavits: income, expenses, assets, and liabilities — just organized in Georgia’s own layout.
Section-by-Section Walkthrough
Caption and Household Information
The top of the form identifies the Superior Court and county, the civil action number, and the parties (Plaintiff/Defendant). You then list the affiant’s name and age, the spouse’s name and age, the date of marriage and date of separation, and the names, birth dates, and residence of the children for whom support is being determined in the case, plus any of the affiant’s other children.
Section 2: Summary of Affiant’s Income and Needs
This is a short summary box that pulls totals from later in the form: your gross monthly income (from the gross-income section), your net monthly income from employment, your average monthly expenses, and your monthly payments to creditors, added together into total monthly expenses and creditor payments. Think of it as the “answer key” that judges and opposing counsel scan first — the supporting detail comes later in the form.
Section 3: Gross and Net Monthly Income
This is the most detailed income section. You report your monthly average for every listed income source, including salary or wages (with copies of your two most recent wage statements attached), commissions/fees/tips, self-employment or business income (net of ordinary and necessary expenses, with an itemized calculation sheet attached), rental income (net of expenses, also itemized on an attached sheet), bonuses, overtime, severance pay, recurring pension or retirement income, interest and dividends, trust income, annuity income, capital gains, Social Security disability or retirement benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, judgments from personal injury or other civil cases, gifts convertible to cash, prizes or lottery winnings, alimony from a source outside the current case, assets used to support the family, fringe benefits that significantly reduce living expenses, and any other income (excluding means-tested public assistance such as TANF or food stamps). These add up to your gross monthly income. A separate line captures net monthly income from employment — deducting only state and federal taxes and FICA — along with your pay period and number of exemptions claimed.
Section 4: Assets
This table lists what each party owns: cash; stocks and bonds; CDs and money market accounts; individual bank accounts; retirement accounts (401(k), IRA, pension, profit sharing); money owed to you; tax refunds owed to you; real estate (home and other property, each with any debt owed); vehicles (each with any debt owed); the net cash value of life insurance; furniture and furnishings; jewelry; collectibles; and any other assets. For each item, you also note the value, whether any portion is a separate (non-marital) asset of the husband or wife, and the basis for that claim — for example, pre-marital ownership, a gift, an inheritance, or a traceable source of funds.
Section 5A: Average Monthly Expenses
This is the largest section of the DRFA, grouped into several categories: household costs (mortgage or rent, property taxes, homeowner/renter insurance, electricity, water, garbage and sewer, home and cell phone, cable, groceries and household items, meals outside the home); automobile costs (gas, repairs, tags/license, insurance); other vehicles such as boats, trailers, or RVs; children’s expenses (child care, tuition, tutoring, private lessons, school supplies, lunch money, other education costs, allowance, clothing, diapers, out-of-pocket medical/dental costs, grooming, gifts, entertainment, activities, summer camps); the affiant’s other personal expenses (dry cleaning, clothing, medical costs, gifts, entertainment, recreation, vacations, travel for visitation, dues, religious/charitable giving, pet expenses, alimony paid to a former spouse, and child support paid for other children, with the date of that order); and other insurance (health, dental, vision, and life — each broken out for the children’s portion where relevant — plus disability and any other coverage).
Section 5B–5C: Payments to Creditors and Total Expenses
A separate table lists each creditor, the balance due, the monthly payment, and whether the debt is joint or belongs to the plaintiff or defendant. Those monthly payments are added to Section 5A to produce the total monthly expenses figure carried back up into the Section 2 summary.
Signature Under Oath
The DRFA closes with a dated signature line for the affiant and a notary public line — the instructions state the affidavit “shall be under oath.” Per the form’s own instructions, no Social Security numbers or financial account numbers should be included in any document filed with the court.
How the DRFA Connects to the Georgia Child Support Worksheet
The DRFA and the Georgia Child Support Worksheet are two different, related documents. The DRFA is your sworn statement of income, expenses, assets, and debts. The Worksheet is the calculation document — required by O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 and promulgated by the Georgia Child Support Commission — that takes each parent’s gross income (the same figure you build in DRFA Section 3) and runs it through Georgia’s child support guidelines to calculate a presumptive support amount. Georgia no longer uses the old Excel worksheets or “EZ” paper forms; the Child Support Commission’s online calculator at csconlinecalc.georgiacourts.gov is the current tool for preparing and printing the Worksheet and its schedules. Both parties are generally required to submit a proposed Worksheet at the time of hearing or trial in cases involving child support, alongside their DRFAs.
Filling Out the DRFA Without Losing an Afternoon to It
Because every income source has to be averaged to a monthly figure, every asset and account listed individually, and every expense sorted into the right category, the DRFA is one of the more time-consuming forms in a Georgia family law case. If you’d rather answer plain-English questions about your pay, bills, property, and debts and let software route those answers into the correct DRFA lines and totals, the Georgia forms interview is built for exactly this — it walks you through every Georgia court form fully typed, including the financial affidavit, based on your reported income and expenses.
FAQ
What is the Georgia Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit?
It’s the official sworn financial disclosure form used in Georgia Superior Court domestic relations cases — divorce, alimony, child support, property division, and related modifications — that lists a party’s income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.
Do I have to file the DRFA in every Georgia divorce or child support case?
Anyone filing an action for temporary or permanent child support, alimony, equitable division of property, modification of support, or attorney’s fees must file the DRFA with the clerk of court and serve it on the other party. The opposing party must serve and file their own affidavit within set deadlines tied to hearings, mediation, or their answer. Confirm your county’s specific filing procedures with the clerk of court.
Is the DRFA the same as the Georgia Child Support Worksheet?
No. The DRFA is the sworn statement of your finances. The Child Support Worksheet is the separate calculation document, required under O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15, that uses income figures to compute a presumptive child support amount. In child support cases, both are generally required.
Does the DRFA need to be notarized?
The official form states the affidavit “shall be under oath” and includes a notary public signature line for the affiant. Confirm your local court’s exact signing requirements before filing.
What happens if I don’t file my DRFA on time?
Per the form’s own instructions, failure to furnish the required financial information can, at the court’s discretion, lead to contempt penalties, a continuance of the hearing, or other sanctions or remedies the court deems appropriate.
Where do I get the current, official Georgia DRFA form?
Download it directly from an official Georgia court source — such as the Georgia Division of Child Support Services (childsupport.georgia.gov) or your local Superior Court’s forms page — rather than a third-party site, since forms are periodically revised.
Closing
The Georgia DRFA asks for one consistent story about your finances — what you earn, what you spend, what you own, and what you owe — organized into the categories Georgia courts use to evaluate child support, alimony, and property division. Filing it completely and accurately, on time, and alongside the required Child Support Worksheet is one of the more consequential steps in a Georgia family law case. If you’re handling a similar form in Florida, see our companion walkthrough on the Florida Financial Affidavit: 12.902(b) vs 12.902(c). For a plain-English breakdown of your own numbers, or for a copy of Navigating Child Support, the book that walks pro-se parents through the whole process, see the links above.
