Custody modification help for Sandy Springs parents.
If you are the non-custodial parent in Sandy Springs and want more time with your children, the current order does not have to be the last word. With the right change in circumstances, Georgia lets you ask the court to expand your parenting time. We help you build the case for a bigger role in your children’s lives.
Daniels & Taylor serves Sandy Springs 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 request to change custody is generally filed in the county where the parent you are filing against lives (O.C.G.A. Ā§ 19-9-23(a), which applies the Georgia Constitution’s general venue rule). 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 Sandy Springs builds on the existing custody order.
Changing a custody order (modification) is legally distinct from enforcing one (contempt); in Georgia, a request to change custody cannot be made in response to a contempt motion or other action to enforce the custody order (O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b)), so a parent in Sandy Springs generally seeks contempt to enforce an order and modification to change it.
Common questions about custody modification in Sandy Springs
Can a non-custodial parent get more parenting time?
With a material change in circumstances affecting the child, a non-custodial parent can seek expanded parenting time or a change in custody.
What helps a request for more time?
A consistent, involved record with the children, improved stability, and a plan that clearly serves the child’s best interest.
Can I modify time without taking primary custody?
Yes. Parenting time can be expanded on its own; you do not have to seek primary custody to ask for more meaningful time.
The case for a bigger role in their lives. Call (770) 285-1673 for a free case evaluation.
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