Veni Vivi Venue. (I came, I lived, I got venue.)

     Its the simple things in life that make going to court hard.  Like the fact that in the United States, you have the substative due process right of free travel amongst the states.  Not "free" like you don't have to pay for it, "free" in the fact that you don't have to pass government checkpoints or get permission to travel somewhere.
     Well, all that may change for latino's living in The People's Democratic Republic of Arizona, but as Eddie Murphy taught us long ago, white people can still pretty much do what they want throughout the country.
     Well all that freedom to go frolicking about, both between states, and within the state of Georgia can cause significant issues when you either want to get a divorce, need a court order to keep them from stalking you, or just generally need to sue them for any reason in general.  It causes an issue because the Georgia State Constitution requires that the target of a civil action (the "Defendant") has to be sued in the county in which they reside.  (Article VI, Section II) or (page 41 of 89).
     Now that sounds all nice and simple, doesn't it?  Well that part IS simple, but it is the exceptions that immediately destroy the illusion of simplicity.  And the exceptions start right away, and in that same old Georgia Constitution for which I just gave you the link.  So in a divorce case, where the Defendant has left not only the home, but has left the state, the Plaintiff can file suit in the county where the Plaintiff resides.  If the Defendant has not left the state, and still lives in Georgia, you can file suit either in the county where s/he has moved to, or, if it is within 6 months of them moving out, you can file in the county where you had the marital domicile.
     Now wait just one hot minute!  Domicile?  Residence?  What is the difference?  And why did the Georgia Supreme Court imply that the word "Residence" means something different in a domestic violence context than in any other context??  Davis-Redding v. Redding, 246 Ga. App. 792, 793 (2000).  I don't know.  But what I do know (I think) is that "residence" is where you generally sleep at night and have mail sent to, and maybe even pay some bills for gas and electric and such.  A residence becomes a Georgia "domicile" when you intend to stay there for any length of time.
     As clear as an unmuddied lake?  As clear as an azure sky of deepest summer?  Don't even get me started on contempt or interstate custody actions.
     Just call up your Georgia Trial Lawyer and have him look at OCGA 19-2-1 before you file your divorce, or any other civil lawsuit.

Here it is in case he doesn't have his code books handy:

O.C.G.A. 19-2-1. Place of domicile; change of domicile

(a) The domicile of every person who is of full age and is laboring under no disability is the place where the family of the person permanently resides, if in this state. If a person has no family or if his family does not reside in this state, the place where the person generally lodges shall be considered his domicile.

(b) The domicile of a person sui juris may be changed by an actual change of residence with the avowed intention of remaining at the new residence. Declaration of an intention to change one's domicile is ineffectual for that purpose until some act is done in execution of the intention.