You’ve just suffered defeat in an action to modify child custody. You believe that the judge was biased, ignored your evidence, and issued a fundamentally unfair order changing primary custody of a child. Naturally, you hope that an appellate court will reverse the miscarriage of justice. But succes...
Georgia law permits a court to modify physical or legal custody of a minor child granted under a prior award “upon a showing of a change in any material conditions or circumstances of a party or the child.”(1) In an action to modify a child custody award, if the court finds new and material changes...
Georgia domestic cases, such as divorces, child custody and child support proceedings, legitimation actions, and family violence matters, normally fall within the jurisdiction of the State’s superior courts.(1) And where child custody is at issue, judges rather than juries always make the determinat...
Georgia law permits a child aged 14 years or older to “select the parent with whom he or she desires to live.”(1) Nonetheless, an action to modify custody of the child making such a custodial election will not automatically succeed. This article addresses the available means to defeat the custodial...
While Georgia statutes and appellate case law plainly state the findings required to modify a child custody award, the authorities remain less clear on allocation of the burden of proof in modification actions and its impact on a court’s ultimate determination. This article explores those subjects.
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