Georgia Child Custody

The unfortunate outcome of divorce is that children will no longer live with both parents but must divide their time between the homes of the parents. In Georgia, several types of custody can be awarded with one parent usually having primary custody. Types of custody include:

Temporary Custody
In many cases a hearing is held after a divorce is filed to determine who will have temporary custody of the children. In most cases, the parent who has the children will have temporary custody. However, temporary custody must meet the same standards are permanent custodyit must be in the best interest of the child. And just because a parent has been awarded temporary custody it does not mean that he or she will be awarded permanent custody.

Sole Custody
In order to have sole custody, a parent must have legal and physical custody. Legal custody in Georgia is given to the parent that will make all of the important decisions regarding the child. This includes education, religious upbringing, medical care and discipline. The parent that has physical custody has the child living with him or her every day. In most cases, the other parent has visitation rights.

Split Custody
Split custody cases are rare but do happen. In these cases one child may live with one parent while another child lives with the other. Each parent has custody of the child that lives with him or her. This happens most often in cases where the children are teenagers.

Joint Custody
Jon and Kate Gosselin of Jon and Kate Plus 8 are showing America one version of joint custody. The two have continued to maintain the same home for their children but each lives there with them at different times on a rotating basis. Joint custody also refers to legal custody. This is where the parents share in the decision making about the upbringing of the child. For example, education and religious decisions are made jointly Parents can also
agree to shared physical custody. In this case, the parents agree that the child has two homes and the child spend at least 35 percent of the time with the other parent.

Who decides custody?
The determination as to who gets custody is always up to a superior court judge. But the judge will usually approve a plan that the parents agree to as long as he or she considers it to be in the best interest of the children. Before agreeing to any type of custody arrangement, consult with a Georgia child custody attorney. Once a custody agreement is in place, it is very difficult to get it changed. You will have to file court motions to show that the change of custody is in the best interest of the child. This is difficult to prove unless there has been abuse or neglect.