Georgia Code
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 13-1-13. Recovery of Voluntary Payments

Payments of claims made through ignorance of the law or where all the facts are known and there is no misplaced confidence and no artifice, deception, or fraudulent practice used by the other party are deemed voluntary and cannot be recovered unless made under an urgent and immediate necessity therefor or to release person or property from detention or to prevent an immediate seizure of person or property. Filing a protest at the time of payment does not change the rule prescribed in this Code section.
History. Civil Code 1895, § 3723; Civil Code 1910, § 4317; Code 1933, § 20-1007.
History of Code section.
This Code section is derived from the decisions in Camps v. Phillips, 49 Ga. 455 (1873); Arnold & DuBose v. Georgia R.R. & Banking Co., 50 Ga. 304 (1873); First Nat’l Bank v. Mayor of Americus, 68 Ga. 119 (1881).
Law reviews.
For note on the voluntary-payment doctrine in Georgia, see 16 Ga. L. Rev. 893 (1982).
For comment, “Refocusing Liquidated Damages Law for Real Estate Contracts: Returning to the Historical Roots of the Penalty Doctrine,” see 39 Emory L.J. 267 (1990).
For annual survey of local government law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 351 (2004).
For annual survey on administrative law, see 66 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2014).

Structure Georgia Code