Custody modification help for Alpharetta parents.
A new job, a remarriage, or a move can reshape an Alpharetta parent’s life and make the old custody order a poor fit. When a parent’s circumstances change in a meaningful way, that can open the door to modifying custody or parenting time. We help you show how the change affects your children and what arrangement serves them now.
Daniels & Taylor serves Alpharetta families from our office in Lawrenceville.
What most people pay for a case evaluation to learn
A Georgia custody or parenting-time order can be changed, but not just because one parent is unhappy with it. To change custody you must show a material change in circumstances affecting the child since the last order, and then that the change you want is in the child’s best interest (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3; Scott v. Scott, 276 Ga. 372 (2003)).
A parent’s planned move is one of the most common grounds. Georgia has no automatic rule for or against relocation; the court looks at how the move affects this child’s best interest, and it does not have to wait until the parent has already moved (Bodne v. Bodne, 277 Ga. 445 (2003)). When a child turns 14, the child can also choose which parent to live with, and that choice can itself be the material change that reopens custody, though it can be made only once every two years (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5)).
How a Georgia custody modification case works
A custody modification is its own separate lawsuit, not something added onto a contempt case, and the petition is filed in the county where the parent who currently has custody lives (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23). The judge first decides whether a qualifying material change has happened, and only then weighs the child’s best interest under the statutory factors (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)).
Because the standard is a real threshold, not every disagreement qualifies. Common grounds include a move, a change in the child’s needs, or a shift in a parent’s circumstances. We can tell you whether your facts are likely to meet the standard before you file, so you are not paying to litigate a change the court cannot grant.
A custody modification in Georgia revisits the original custody determination under the same best-interest standard once a material change is shown (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3), so a modification in Alpharetta builds on the existing custody order.
Changing a custody order (modification) is legally distinct from enforcing one (contempt); Georgia treats a request to change custody separately from a motion to enforce it (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b)), so a parent in Alpharetta generally seeks contempt to enforce an order and modification to change it.
Common questions about custody modification in Alpharetta
Can a parent’s new job or schedule justify a modification?
A significant change in a parent’s circumstances that affects the child can qualify as a material change supporting modification.
Does remarriage affect custody?
It can be part of the picture if it changes the child’s living situation or stability, but the controlling question is the child’s best interest.
What if my circumstances improved since the original order?
A parent whose stability has improved can seek a larger role; the court looks at the change and what now serves the child (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)).
An arrangement that serves your children now. Call (770) 285-1673 for a free case evaluation.
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