Custody help for Oakwood parents.
In a small community like Oakwood, a custody matter can feel especially personal, and the weight of getting it right for your children is real. Knowing how Georgia approaches custody, and what a parenting plan can settle, helps you move forward with a steady hand. We work alongside you toward an arrangement that protects your children.
Daniels & Taylor serves Oakwood families from our office in Lawrenceville.
What most people pay for a consultation to learn
Georgia courts decide custody by one standard: the best interest of the child (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)). There is no presumption in favor of the mother. Georgia long ago abolished the old tender-years rule, so a father and a mother start on equal footing (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(1)).
Custody has two parts: legal custody, the right to make major decisions about education, health, religion, and activities, and physical custody, where the child lives day to day. A child who is at least fourteen has the right to select the parent he or she wants to live with, and the court will honor that choice unless living with that parent is not in the child’s best interest; for a child between eleven and fourteen the judge considers the child’s wishes but is not bound by them (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5), (6)).
How a Georgia child-custody case works
Custody is decided as part of a divorce, a legitimation, or a stand-alone custody action, and Georgia requires a written parenting plan that sets out legal custody, physical custody, and a parenting-time schedule in every case that decides custody (O.C.G.A. 19-9-1). The judge weighs the best-interest factors the statute lists, such as each parent’s bond with the child, each home, and each parent’s ability to care for the child (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(3)).
Once custody is set, changing it is not automatic. To modify custody you must show a material change in circumstances that affects the child’s welfare, and then that the new arrangement serves the child’s best interest (Scott v. Scott, 276 Ga. 372 (2003)). We can handle the parenting plan, the hearing, and a modification when circumstances have genuinely changed.
In Georgia, a custody order generally can be modified when there has been a new and material change in circumstances affecting the child’s welfare (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3), so a parent in Oakwood seeking a different arrangement typically pursues a modification.
In Georgia, a violated custody or parenting-time order is generally enforced through a contempt action rather than self-help (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b)), so a parent in Oakwood facing a violation typically files for contempt.
In Georgia, a father of a child born to unmarried parents generally must legitimate the child before he can pursue a custody claim (O.C.G.A. 19-7-22), so for a father in Oakwood, legitimation is typically the required first step.
Common questions about child custody in Oakwood
What does a parenting plan actually cover?
It sets out physical custody, a schedule for school days, weekends, holidays, and breaks, and how major decisions get made between the parents (O.C.G.A. 19-9-1).
Is one parent automatically favored?
No. Georgia presumes in favor of no parent based on gender; the decision rests on the child’s best interest (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(1)).
Do older children have a say?
At 14 a child’s selection is presumptive unless it is not in their best interest; from 11 to 13 their wishes are considered but not controlling (O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5),(6)).
Where is a custody case filed?
An initial child custody case is generally filed in the county where the other parent lives; when custody is decided as part of a divorce, it is filed in the county where the responding spouse lives (O.C.G.A. 19-5-2; Ga. Const. Art. VI, Sec. II, Par. VI). Because the right county depends on where the other party resides, we can confirm it before you file.
Move forward with a steady hand. Call (770) 285-1673 for a free case evaluation.
Contact Us
"*" indicates required fields