Section 15-11-283. (Effective January 1, 2014) Notice to father

   (a) Unless he has surrendered all parental rights to his child, a summons shall be served on the legal father of a child named in the petition brought pursuant to this article or the biological father:

   (1) Whose paternity has been previously established in a judicial proceeding to which the father was a party;

   (2) Whose identity is known to the petitioner or the petitioner's attorney;

   (3) Who is a registrant on the putative father registry and has acknowledged paternity of the child named in the petition brought pursuant to this article;

   (4) Who is a registrant on the putative father registry who has indicated possible paternity of the child named in the petition brought pursuant to this article that was born to such child's mother during a period beginning no more than two years immediately preceding such child's date of birth; or

   (5) Who, if the court finds from the evidence including but not limited to the affidavit of the mother of a child named in the petition brought pursuant to this article, has performed any of the following acts:

      (A) Lived with such child;

      (B) Contributed to such child's support;

      (C) Made any attempt to legitimate such child; or

      (D) Provided support or medical care for such mother either during her pregnancy or during her hospitalization for the birth of such child.

(b) Notice shall be given to the biological father or legal father by the following methods:

   (1) If the biological father or legal father is within this state and can be found, the summons shall be served upon him personally as soon as possible and least 30 days before the termination of parental rights hearing;

   (2) If the biological father or legal father is outside this state but his address is known or can be ascertained with due diligence, service of summons shall be made at least 30 days before the termination of parental rights hearing either by delivering a copy to him personally or by mailing a copy to him by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested; or

   (3) If, after due diligence, the biological father or legal father to be served with summons cannot be found and his address cannot be ascertained, whether he is within or outside this state, the court may order service of summons upon him by publication. The termination of parental rights hearing shall not be earlier than 31 days after the date of the last publication. Service by publication shall be as follows:

      (A) Service by publication shall be made once a week for four consecutive weeks in the legal organ of the county where the petition to terminate parental rights has been filed and of the county of the biological father's last known address. Service shall be deemed complete upon the date of the last publication;

      (B) When served by publication, the notice shall contain the names of the parties, except that the anonymity of a child shall be preserved by the use of appropriate initials, and the date the petition to terminate parental rights was filed. The notice shall indicate the general nature of the allegations and where a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights can be obtained and require the biological father or legal father to appear before the court at the time fixed to answer the allegations of the petition to terminate parental rights;

      (C) The petition to terminate parental rights shall be available to the biological father or legal father whose rights are sought to be terminated free of charge from the court during business hours or, upon request, shall be mailed to the biological father or legal father; and

      (D) Within 15 days after the filing of the order of service by publication, the clerk of court shall mail a copy of the notice, a copy of the order of service by publication, and a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights to the biological father's or legal father's last known address.

(c) The notice shall advise the biological father who is not the legal father that he may lose all rights to the child named in a petition brought pursuant to this article and will not be entitled to object to the termination of his rights to such child unless, within 30 days of receipt of notice, he files:

   (1) A petition to legitimate such child; and

   (2) Notice of the filing of the petition to legitimate with the court in which the termination of parental rights proceeding is pending.

(d) If the identity of the biological father whose rights are sought to be terminated is not known to the petitioner or the petitioner's attorney and the biological father would not be entitled to notice in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section, then it shall be rebuttably presumed that he is not entitled to notice of the proceedings. The court shall be authorized to require the mother to execute an affidavit supporting the presumption or show cause before the court if she refuses. Absent evidence rebutting the presumption, no further inquiry or notice shall be required by the court, and the court may enter an order terminating the rights of the biological father.

(e) The court may enter an order terminating all the parental rights of a biological father, including any right to object thereafter to such proceedings:

   (1) Who fails to file a timely petition to legitimate the child named in a petition brought pursuant to this article and notice in accordance with subsection (c) of this Code section;

   (2) Whose petition to legitimate is subsequently dismissed for failure to prosecute; or

   (3) Whose petition to legitimate does not result in a court order finding that he is the legal father of the child named in a petition brought pursuant to this article.

Code 1981, § 15-11-283, enacted by Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 1-1/HB 242.