Child Custody Lawyer in Suwanee, GA
Custody help for Suwanee parents.
For Suwanee families, holidays and summers are when memories get made, and they are also where custody schedules most often break down. A parenting plan that spells out the holiday rotation and summer break in advance spares everyone the yearly fight. We help you lock in a calendar your children can count on.
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 Suwanee 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 Suwanee 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 Suwanee, legitimation is typically the required first step.
Common questions about child custody in Suwanee
How are holidays divided in a parenting plan?
Typically by a rotation, alternating major holidays year to year or splitting the day, set out in advance so there is no annual dispute (O.C.G.A. 19-9-1).
How does summer break work in custody?
A plan can give extended summer time to one or both parents, with notice rules for vacations and travel, so breaks are predictable.
What if we cannot agree on the holiday schedule?
The court can set a rotation based on the child’s best interest; a clear plan up front usually prevents that fight altogether.
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.
A calendar your children can count on. Call (770) 285-1673 for a free case evaluation.
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