Custody issues are most parents’ primary concern when they live apart from their co-parent. Understanding how the law deals with child custody issues is critical.
Seek guidance from one of our firm’s Marietta child custody lawyers when you are negotiating a custody agreement or seeking to modify or enforce a custody order. Our legal team works exclusively in Georgia family law, and we can provide sound advice and support throughout the process.
Understanding Different Types of Child Custody
Child-sharing arrangements in our area typically involve various forms of custody that address different aspects of caring and being responsible for a minor child. The major elements that a Marietta child custody attorney could help address include:
- Physical custody
- Legal custody
- Visitation arrangements
What is Physical Custody?
Physical custody is essentially just what it sounds like: a determination of which parent a child physically lives with on which dates. In the State of Georgia, a court must always make the final determination on how much time a child spends living with each parent based on that child’s best interests. In joint custody situations, parents split their parenting time evenly or roughly evenly, whereas the child lives only with one parent in sole custody cases.
What is Legal Custody?
The term “legal custody” refers to the power each parent has to determine their child’s future and make important decisions on their behalf, including those related to the child’s religion, schooling, and healthcare. By default, parents share joint legal custody, meaning they each have the right to decide on these issues. However, a Marietta court may limit such rights if it finds that a joint agreement is not in the child’s best interests.
What Are Visitation Arrangements?
When one parent has sole physical custody of a child, the other parent often has a visitation arrangement allowing them to visit the child at a specific time or under specific circumstances. As with physical and legal custody, the court makes the final decision in regards to a non-custodial parent’s visitation rights.
Children’s Best Interests Drive Decisions
Georgia law does not allow a judge to consider a parent’s gender when making custody decisions. According to the Official Code of Georgia § 19-9-3(a)(2), the only criteria is the children’s best interests. The judge must choose the best arrangement for the children’s welfare and happiness.
The law describes multiple factors a judge can consider when deciding what serves the children’s best interests. Some of the factors are:
- Nurture and safety the children experience in each parent’s home;
- Each parent’s mental and physical health;
- Each parent’s experience as a caretaker of the children;
- Each parent’s ability to anticipate and meet each child’s needs;
- The strength of the emotional bond between each parent and each child
- The bonds between each child and other members of each parent’s household
- Any parental history of domestic violence or substance abuse.
The judge can also consider any other factors that they deem important in a specific case.
It can be challenging for parents to distinguish their children’s best interests from their own or from their family’s as a whole. An experienced Marietta attorney can review a parent’s custody goals and help them present them to emphasize the benefit to the children.
Negotiation Benefits Everyone
Protecting children from involvement in their parents’ dispute should be a priority. Children often have difficulty adjusting when their parents separate or divorce, and a custody dispute only increases the disruption and turmoil they may suffer.
The Georgia family courts encourage parents to negotiate a parenting plan reflecting their family’s needs. The plan should include a detailed parenting time schedule and a description of how the parents will make decisions regarding the children. The plan should also include arrangements for child support.
A judge must review any parenting arrangement the child’s parents propose before issuing it as a court order. A member of our family law team in Marietta can review a parenting plan to ensure it meets legal requirements before submitting it to the court.
Custody Modification and Enforcement
Once a court issues a custody order, it may be necessary to revisit it from time to time. An order that worked well when children were young may become impractical as the children get older. When one parent is noncompliant with the court order, taking steps to enforce it may be necessary.
A parent can go to court to modify custody if there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the original order was issued. A member of our Marietta legal team can review a situation and advise whether it merits a request for modification. When parents agree to modify the custody order, they can draft a modified order, submit it to the court, and the court will approve it unless it does not serve the children.
Sometimes a parent does not adhere to the order and the co-parent must bring a court petition to enforce it. A consistently non-compliant parent could lose parenting time or face other consequences.
A Marietta Child Custody Attorney is Available to Help
Child custody issues are often sensitive since they disproportionately impact the lives of children. As such, parents who need help resolving child custody issues should contact a Marietta child custody lawyer for professional assistance.
An attorney familiar with Georgia child custody laws can review your case and provide more information about how to best proceed. Call our firm today to set up a meeting with our intake team and get started on your case.
