---
type: "Bill"
title: "Domestic relations; equitable caregivers; provide"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding parent and child relationship generally, so as to provide for equitable caregivers; to provide for standing and adjudication; to provide for a statutory form; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 543"
citation: "Georgia HB 543 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonnie Rich", "Chuck Efstration", "Mary Oliver", "Mike Wilensky"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2019-02-28"
last_action: "2019-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/765ba477-14b9-4227-b8e0-8d11c1b81c30"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "ba79bd089656379962af12f66565b84af308cd8b53d59ceef13fcceb26d895b7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 543 (2019_20) — Domestic relations; equitable caregivers; provide

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding parent and child relationship generally, so as to provide for equitable caregivers; to provide for standing and adjudication; to provide for a statutory form; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 543/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/187527.pdf)
2. **LC 41 1903/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/183349.pdf)
3. **LC 41 1915S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/184225.pdf)
4. **LC 41 1915S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/183512.pdf)
5. **SCSFA to HB 543** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/187298.pdf)
6. **Sen ctee sub LC 41 1967S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186375.pdf)
7. **Sen floor amend 1 AM 41 0454** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/186856.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **142–15** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bonnie Rich — primary (person)
- Chuck Efstration — primary (person)
- Mary Oliver — primary (person)
- Mike Wilensky — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-28** House Hopper
- **2019-02-28** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2019-03-01** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2019-03-01** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-07** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2019-03-07** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2019-03-08** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-28** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-28** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2019-03-29** Senate Tabled
- **2019-04-02** Senate Taken from Table
- **2019-04-02** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2019-04-02** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2019-04-02** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2019-04-11** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-06** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-06** Act 218 `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/765ba477-14b9-4227-b8e0-8d11c1b81c30`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).