I live in GA and my estranged wife is in SC. Our children are adults and she can have the house. Can I file for divorce here in GA?

The short answer is maybe. There's no easy and straightforward answer - it depends on which state has jurisdiction to enter an enforceable order that handles each legal issue involved in the divorce. In order to prevent your case from being dismissed and wasting your time and money, it's important to make sure you meet the Georgia residency requirements. In order to file for a divorce in Georgia, residency requirements must be met for the court to accept the case. If the court discovers it does not have jurisdictional rights to hear the case it will not be accepted, or it will eventually be dismissed. Jurisdiction is the power and authority that a court has to hear and determine a particular type of case and issue. Personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction are the two types that most frequently come up in an interstate divorce. A court has to have personal jurisdiction over each party to a lawsuit in order to enter an enforceable judgment. This means that each person must have been properly served notice of the pending lawsuit or, in some instances, the person simply submits to the jurisdiction of the court by filing an entry of appearance in the court file. The court must have personal jurisdiction over the defendant if financial relief is to be granted, i.e. issues involving child support, alimony, and/or division of property, etc. As you have indicated there is some jointly held property, this is where you may have an issue. Subject matter jurisdiction is the power of the court to enter an enforceable order regarding the issues in a divorce. Examples of issues are: child custody, disposition of certain types of property, child support, and spousal support. The court must also have the statutory authority to hear a family law case. Georgia courts have subject matter jurisdiction when one of the parties has been a resident of the state of Georgia for at least six months at the time of the filing of the complaint (the document to initiate a divorce action). Ultimately, interstate divorces can be very complex and very costly. It all depends upon the facts of each marriage, the laws of each state, and the issues to be litigated. As such, it is advisable to hire an attorney to help navigate the complexities of jurisdiction, and all other issues, to avoid wasting time and money.