Blog Category | Child custody
How Courts Determine Custody
When determining child custody, courts consider a range of factors to ensure that the best interests of the child or children are served. These factors may include the child’s age, their relationship with each parent, the stability of each parent’s home environment, any history of abuse or neglect, the child’s...
Continue Reading How Courts Determine CustodyWhat are the Steps to Enforce a Court Order for Child Support or Custody?
Following a divorce, your child’s welfare should still take priority. This can be challenging when the other parent is not living up to their obligations. In Georgia, support and custody orders are handled by the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Child Support Services (DCSS). If your former spouse...
Continue Reading What are the Steps to Enforce a Court Order for Child Support or Custody?Legal Custody vs. Physical Custody
Child custody is not a concept that most parents, unmarried or not, even think about while they are still together. However, if you have decided to get a divorce or end your relationship with your child’s other parent, you must understand the two fundamental types of child custody: physical and...
Continue Reading Legal Custody vs. Physical CustodySubstance Abuse & Child Custody
When Georgia courts make child custody determinations, they focus on the best interests of the involved children, and a wide range of factors play a role. Many of these relate to each parent’s ability to adequately attend to their children’s needs, and the matter of substance abuse is a serious...
Continue Reading Substance Abuse & Child CustodyCan I Move Out of State with My Child During a Divorce?
Divorce is a stressful process, even more so when you are a parent to minor children. If you are thinking about getting divorced or are in the process of getting divorced, you might be dreaming of building a new life for yourself out of state. This might lead you to...
Continue Reading Can I Move Out of State with My Child During a Divorce?How Does GA Define Joint Custody?
Georgia law recognizes two types of child custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody can be either sole or joint, and physical custody can be sole, joint, or primary/secondary. The most common form of custody is joint legal and primary/secondary physical custody. Family courts are more inclined to grant...
Continue Reading How Does GA Define Joint Custody?Can a Child Appeal a Custody Ruling?
Child custody can be one of the most emotional and contentious issues in a divorce or in a situation where the parents were never married and no longer or never lived together. Each parent often has different visions for how they want the custody arrangement to be, and both of...
Continue Reading Can a Child Appeal a Custody Ruling?Visitation During The Holidays
The holidays should be a time of happiness, joy, and celebration with family and friends. This season can also come with various issues about child custody and visitation. Most parents want their child to be with them at all times, if possible, particularly on significant days during the holiday season,...
Continue Reading Visitation During The HolidaysHow Do You Modify an Existing GA Custody Order?
Custody orders protect children and their parents when the parents no longer live together or are divorced. They are court orders that each parent must abide by. Failure to do so can lead to severe consequences, including losing visitation or custody rights. Although custody orders are meant to be permanent,...
Continue Reading How Do You Modify an Existing GA Custody Order?What You Need to Know About Stepparent Adoption in Georgia
Stepparents often become essential parts of children’s lives. In most cases, when families blend, stepparents may wish to adopt their stepchild to make their relationship legal and official. Besides giving your stepchild a deeper sense of belonging and serving as a statement of affection and love for your stepchild, adoption...
Continue Reading What You Need to Know About Stepparent Adoption in GeorgiaHow Old Does a Child Have to Be to Refuse Visitation?
Under the Georgia Code, children who are 14 years of age may refuse visitation with the other parent. This means that your child can’t unilaterally decide to stop visiting their other parent but can state their wishes or preferences with the court’s approval. The court will most likely uphold your...
Continue Reading How Old Does a Child Have to Be to Refuse Visitation?Does a Stepparent Have Any Legal Rights?
Before the Equitable Caregiver Act was signed into law, stepparents were not afforded visitation and custody rights under the law. Unless you legally adopt your stepchild, you may not be given any legal right to visit or stay in contact with the child they’ve raised as their own for many...
Continue Reading Does a Stepparent Have Any Legal Rights?What Happens to My Child Support If I Remarry?
Remarriage, whether by the custodial parent or the parent paying child support, will not usually impact support payments. All children have the legal right to receive support from both parents. They are not, however, automatically entitled to financial support from stepparents. Will The Income of My New Spouse Taken Into...
Continue Reading What Happens to My Child Support If I Remarry?Can I Appeal a Child Custody Ruling?
Courts and judges strive to do their very best to rule in the child’s best interest. Occasionally, however, they make mistakes. As a parent, you’re entitled to appeal a child custody ruling if you don’t agree with the order the judge passed. But there are specific rules about under which...
Continue Reading Can I Appeal a Child Custody Ruling?At What Age Can a Child Refuse Visitation in Georgia?
When the court orders a custody arrangement, is there a point when a child can decide not to abide by that arrangement? As a child gets older, they might have a better idea of what they want, and they might want to stop trekking between their parents’ homes. Is there...
Continue Reading At What Age Can a Child Refuse Visitation in Georgia?What Are Common Visitation Rights in GA?
When parents get a divorce or separate, they will need to face some key legal issues regarding the custody of their children. The custody arrangement must likewise address the visitation or parenting time agreement, which is the time that the children must spend with their non-custodial parent. As with child...
Continue Reading What Are Common Visitation Rights in GA?Can a Child Request to Change Custody in GA?
In Georgia, children who are 14 years old or older can pick which parent they want to live with. However, a parent has to be the one to actually file a case to change custody. Judges will honor the child’s preference as long as it is in line with the...
Continue Reading Can a Child Request to Change Custody in GA?Appealing the Outcome of a Custody or Related Case
Child custody concerns are highly significant matters that directly affect your parental rights and your ongoing relationship with your children. The law understands the magnitude of these issues and, as such, allows parents the right to appeal a court’s custody-related decisions. To do so, however, you must be able to...
Continue Reading Appealing the Outcome of a Custody or Related CaseChallenges for Families and the COVID Vaccine
Family law addresses its fair share of challenges that relate to family life, and the COVID vaccine is poised to join the growing list of such challenges. Family law deals with evolving social concerns, and COVID-19 vaccines fit the bill nicely. The plan is for all Americans over the age...
Continue Reading Challenges for Families and the COVID VaccineHandling Child Custody during COVID-19
While concerns about COVID-19 and related health issues persist across the United States, many parents face additional worries relating to child custody. The following are a few tips for how to navigate the confusing situation of shared custody during a pandemic. If you have any questions about your specific situation,...
Continue Reading Handling Child Custody during COVID-19Can Georgia parents go to arbitration in a child custody case?
This blog has discussed many aspects of child custody in the state of Georgia, such as the ‘best interest of the child’ standard, the basics of joint or sole custody and some of the differences between legal and physical custody. We’ve also touched on the fact that, in many cases,...
Continue Reading Can Georgia parents go to arbitration in a child custody case?Do Georgia parents lose custody if they leave the state?
Today’s American society is more geographically mobile than ever before. Many people do not live in one place for their entire lives anymore. Whether it be for professional purposes, personal reasons or just wanderlust, individuals often find themselves packing up and heading off to start a new life. This process...
Continue Reading Do Georgia parents lose custody if they leave the state?Mother faces extradition to Georgia in child custody dispute
We’ve previously discussed the potential consequences of taking the law into one’s own hands in cases of child custody disputes. People who take children who are legally in the custody of another without the guardian’s consent can face various civil and criminal penalties. We’ve also touched on the fact that...
Continue Reading Mother faces extradition to Georgia in child custody dispute