Family Law Theme: Custody
In preparation for the release of the much awaited second season of the hit TV series “Big Little Lies,” which launched this last June, the ADLG team launched a new blog series to extrapolate the plethora of family themes addressed throughout the first season. Below is a condensed recap of the sixth blog and episode “Burning Love.”
This episode — the one right before the series’ finale — presents the audience with several themes related to family law. Today, Atlanta Divorce Law Group is focusing on custody. From episode one, we have watched Madeline struggle in her relationship with ex-husband Nathan, especially when it comes to custody and co-parenting of their teenage daughter Abigail. Custody is also an issue for Celeste, who is confronting the very real potential of a custody battle if she decides to take the twins and leave Perry for good. In this episode, she receives some very blunt advice from her therapist about separation and custody.
When couples divorce, they must make many important decisions and resolve critical matters. Few issues may bear greater significance than the subject of child custody. It can also become an emotional and contentious issue between parting spouses. Under Georgia law, a court may award sole custody to one former spouse or joint custody to both ex-partners.
In addition, custody can be categorized as physical custody (where the child lives) and legal custody (enables parents to make important life decisions such as education, medical treatment, religion, and travel). In making decisions about child custody, Georgia courts consider the child’s personal views as well as other factors, including ability to provide primary care, financial and employment stability, the home environment, any criminal records, parents’ mental health, and any drug or alcohol abuse.
In addition to custody, the other family law issues in this sixth episode include domestic violence (Celeste), forced isolation (Celeste), rape (Jane), therapy (Celeste), and maintaining or managing passion in a marriage (Celeste, Madeline). For a full discussion on blended families, domestic violence, therapy, and infidelity, you can read our previous episode recaps.
To read about the family law themes explored in this episode and others, or to see foreshadowing of themes present in “Burning Love,” be sure to go to AtlantaDivorceLawGroup.com/Blog.
