Deprivation – Georgia Case Law Update

On February 9, 2009, the Georgia Court of Appeals vacated the juvenile court’s deprivation ruling in In the Interest of A.R. (A08A2411). The children were found to be deprived because their mother had surrendered her parental rights and her father was incarcerated. Notwithstanding the fact that the father was incarcerated and, thus, his location within the state was known, he was not personally served with the deprivation petition. Due to this non-amendable defect, the Order was vacated. As evidence of the importance of personal service, during the course of the appeal,the state even conceded that the order needed to be vacated due to lack of service.