How to Fill Out Georgia Civil Cover Sheet (w/Examples) + FAQs

The Georgia Civil Case Filing Information Form is the one-page cover sheet every plaintiff or petitioner must attach to a new civil or domestic relations complaint filed in a Georgia Superior, State, or Magistrate Court. The form is required by O.C.G.A. § 9-11-7.1 and by the Judicial Council of Georgia, and the clerk will reject your filing at intake if the cover sheet is missing, blank, or filled out wrong.

The current revision in use across all 159 Georgia counties is the April 2018 Judicial Council/AOC version, and the Administrative Office of the Courts reports that more than 400,000 general civil and domestic cases are filed in Georgia each year, with clerk rejection rates for cover-sheet errors hovering near 8% at busy metro filing counters according to the Council of Superior Court Clerks. A bad cover sheet does not just slow you down. It can cost you a day in court, a service-of-process deadline, or a statute-of-limitations cutoff that can never be undone.

Here is what you will learn in this guide:

📄 What every box, line, and checkbox on the cover sheet really asks
⚖️ How to pick the correct Case Type so your case lands in the right division
💰 The real filing fees by county and how to pay each filing channel
🧾 Three full filled-out examples for the three most common Georgia case types
🛡️ The mistakes that get cover sheets bounced and how to avoid each one

What the Form Is and Who Must File It

The Georgia Civil Case Filing Information Form, commonly called the civil cover sheet, is a one-page intake document the Judicial Council of Georgia created to give the clerk and the Administrative Office of the Courts a quick statistical snapshot of every new civil case. The form does not replace your complaint. It rides on top of the complaint as page one of the filing packet.

Every person or entity that opens a new civil action in a Georgia Superior Court, State Court, or Magistrate Court must file this cover sheet. That includes plaintiffs in personal injury suits, petitioners in divorce or legitimation, creditors filing on open accounts, landlords starting a dispossessory, and pro se filers asking for a name change. Defendants do not file the cover sheet because the form is tied to case opening, not to answers or counterclaims.

The statute that requires the form is O.C.G.A. § 9-11-7.1, and the procedural backbone sits in Uniform Superior Court Rule 36.13, which directs clerks to refuse any complaint that arrives without a properly completed cover sheet. The clerk uses the data to assign your case number, route the case to a judge, calculate the filing fee, and feed the statewide caseload report the AOC publishes each year. If you are emotionally underwater because of a divorce, an eviction, or an injury, please know the form is short, the language is plain once you see it twice, and most filers finish the cover sheet in under fifteen minutes.

Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need

Pulling your paperwork together before you open the cover sheet is the single best way to avoid a clerk rejection. The form asks for facts that come from your complaint, your ID, and your court contact list, so gather everything in one stack first. The Georgia Courts self-help center has free worksheets you can print to organize this step.

Here is the pre-filing checklist for a Georgia civil cover sheet. Each item matters and each one has a direct consequence if it is missing.

Your full legal name as plaintiff or petitioner. The clerk indexes your case under this name, and a mismatch with your driver’s license can flag your filing for review.
The full legal name of every defendant or respondent. Missing a defendant on the cover sheet does not waive service, but it creates a caption mismatch the judge will ask you to fix.
Your attorney’s State Bar of Georgia number if you are represented, available through the State Bar member directory. A wrong bar number routes notices to the wrong lawyer.
The case type and sub-type. You must know whether your case is General Civil, Domestic Relations, or Post-Judgment before you check a box.
Whether any prior related case exists. You need the prior case number, county, and judge if the new case is related to or a continuation of an older one.
Whether you are demanding a jury trial. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-38, the right to a jury is waived if not demanded in writing.
The filing fee or a fee waiver application. Fees run from about $60 in Magistrate Court to $215 to $230 in Superior Court depending on county.
A self-addressed stamped envelope if you are filing by mail and want a conformed copy returned.
A government photo ID for in-person filing at the clerk’s counter.
Your PeachCourt login if you are e-filing, because Georgia’s Superior and State Courts use the eFileGA portal powered by Tyler Technologies.

Spending fifteen minutes on this list at the kitchen table saves an hour of fixing rejections at the courthouse.

Where to Get the Form and How to Access It

The official cover sheet lives on the Judicial Council/AOC forms page and is also posted on most county clerk websites. The current PDF is the General Civil and Domestic Relations Case Filing Information Form, revised April 2018, and you can fill it on a computer or print it and write neatly in black ink.

You can also pick up a paper copy at the front counter of any Superior or State Court clerk’s office. The Council of Superior Court Clerks of Georgia keeps a clerk directory by county so you can find the right courthouse. Major metro counties such as Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Chatham each post the form on their own clerk pages and may include a county-specific addendum.

If you are e-filing, the form is built into the upload step of PeachCourt and eFileGA. The portal will not let you submit a new civil case without attaching a completed cover sheet PDF. Filers who use Adobe Acrobat or any free PDF reader can type directly into the fillable fields, which the clerks prefer because typed entries beat handwriting for OCR indexing. If you must hand-write, use black ink, block capitals, and stay inside the box lines.

Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out the Georgia Civil Cover Sheet Line by Line

The cover sheet has one page split into nine logical groupings: court selection, county, plaintiff, defendant, attorney, case type, related case, jury demand, and damages. Each grouping is its own H3 below. Work top to bottom and do not skip a field, even fields that look optional. The clerk reads the page in order and stops at the first blank.

Court Selection (Top Banner)

The very top of the form asks you to circle or check whether the case is being filed in Superior Court, State Court, or Magistrate Court. In plain English, this is the court where your complaint will live.

To answer, look at the subject matter. Superior Court hears divorce, title to land, felony, and equity cases under Georgia Constitution Art. VI § IV. State Court hears civil claims with no equity component and most personal injury suits. Magistrate Court hears civil disputes up to $15,000 under O.C.G.A. § 15-10-2.

For a specific example, Maria Lopez checks the Superior Court box on her divorce filing in Cobb County because divorce is exclusive Superior Court jurisdiction. A nuance worth flagging is that a few counties such as Fulton run separate Magistrate and State Court intake desks, so circling the wrong court can send your packet to the wrong building entirely. The most common mistake is marking State Court on a divorce filing, which the clerk will bounce back the same day with no refund of your travel time. The misconception to clear up is that many filers think Superior and State Court are the same court with two names, but they are different courts with different judges and different jurisdiction.

County Name

The next field asks for the county where the case is being filed. In plain English, this is the county whose courthouse you are walking into or whose clerk portal you are uploading to.

You answer with the county’s name, fully spelled out, no abbreviations. Venue rules under O.C.G.A. § 9-10-30 usually require you to file where the defendant resides, although tort actions can sometimes follow where the act occurred.

For example, Carlos Mendez writes Gwinnett on the county line because the defendant driver in his auto accident lives in Lawrenceville. A nuance is that Georgia has two counties whose names sound similar (Houston and Heard), and clerks have rejected filings where the wrong one was written. The common mistake is writing Atlanta or Savannah (cities) instead of the actual county, and the consequence is the clerk routes the case to whatever county you actually wrote, even if it is wrong. The misconception is that filing in a “convenient” county is fine. It is not. Filing in the wrong county is grounds for a motion to transfer venue that can delay your case for months.

Case Number (Clerk Use Only)

This field sits near the top right and is reserved for the clerk. In plain English, you do not write anything here.

You leave it blank. The clerk stamps the case number after intake using the county’s case management system.

For example, Janet Brown leaves the box empty and the Fulton clerk later writes 2026-CV-001234 in it. The nuance is that some pro se filers think writing a self-assigned number speeds things up. It does not. The mistake is writing your phone number, ID number, or anything else in this box. The consequence is the clerk has to scratch through your entry and may bounce the form for being illegible. The misconception is that this is your tracking number field. It is the court’s docket number field, period.

Plaintiff(s) / Petitioner(s) Name

This field asks for the full legal name of every person or business bringing the case. In plain English, you list yourself and any co-plaintiffs.

Type or print last name, first name, middle initial, exactly as it appears on a government ID. For business plaintiffs, use the legal name registered with the Georgia Secretary of State.

For example, Aisha Patel writes Patel, Aisha R. on the plaintiff line for her breach of contract case. A nuance arises when a plaintiff uses a maiden name on the complaint but a married name on the deed because you should match the cover sheet to the complaint caption, not to the deed. The common mistake is writing a nickname like Liz instead of Elizabeth, which forces the clerk to issue a corrected caption. The misconception is that the plaintiff’s address goes in this field. It does not. The cover sheet asks only for names. Addresses live on the complaint and on the Sheriff’s Entry of Service form.

Defendant(s) / Respondent(s) Name

This field asks for the full legal name of every person or business being sued. In plain English, you list whoever you want the court to act against.

Type or print one defendant per line, last name first, exactly as you intend to serve them. If a defendant is a corporation, include Inc., LLC, or Corp. exactly as registered.

For example, Marcus Johnson writes ABC Trucking, LLC and Williams, David P. as the two defendants in his auto wreck case. A nuance is that John Doe defendants are allowed in Georgia for unknown tortfeasors under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-10(a), but the clerk still wants the placeholder spelled out. The common mistake is listing only one defendant when the complaint names three, and the consequence is the missing defendants do not appear on the docket and may not be served. The misconception is that you can add defendants later by hand on a copy. You cannot. Adding parties after intake requires an amended complaint.

Plaintiff’s Attorney Name and Bar Number

This field asks for the name and Georgia bar number of the lawyer filing on behalf of the plaintiff. In plain English, this is the attorney handling the case, or Pro Se if you are representing yourself.

Type or print the attorney’s last name, first name, and the seven-digit number from the State Bar of Georgia. If you have no attorney, write Pro Se and leave the bar number blank.

For example, attorney Sarah Kim writes Kim, Sarah J., Bar No. 412987, while pro se filer David Tran writes Pro Se. A nuance is that paralegals must never sign this line because only the licensed attorney can. The mistake is writing the firm name instead of the lawyer’s individual name, which makes the court unsure who is responsible for the case. The consequence is misrouted notices, missed hearings, and possible bar grievance issues. The misconception is that the bar number is optional for solo practitioners. It is not. Bar number is mandatory for any attorney listed.

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