What Age Can a Child Decide Which Parent to Live With in Ga
In all custody cases in which the child has reached the historic period of 14, Georgia police gives that child the right to select the parent with whom he or she desires to live. The child's preference (or parental election) is presumptive, significant that it'due south causeless that is the correct pick unless the parental pick is shown not be in the best interests of the child.
If in that location is a current courtroom order concerning the custody of a child, the election of a child who is xiv or older may authorize as a material change of circumstances sufficient to warrant a modification of child custody. What that ways is that the fourteen-year old's election to modify the custody state of affairs volition exist sufficient to get the matter into courtroom for modification of custody. Yet, that election on its own may not exist enough to modify custody.
Brooke French has been working in family law in Georgia for more than 15 years, and cautions that, "if a mom files an election maxim that the child wants to come live with mom full fourth dimension, that doesn't hateful mom has a slam-douse case. Judges consider information technology as function of all the other evidence that mom puts on and all the testify that dad puts on."
The process
For clients hoping to modify custody based on a custody election, French says the first step is to have the child meet with one of her colleagues who are trained as a guardian ad litem (GAL). "I take a colleague talk to the kid to detect out what is going on. Are they making this conclusion because they've been promised a car? To meet this threshold, you nonetheless must evidence something else other than that election," says French.
"So I talk to the parent and meet if in that location is whatever other testify for a alter. Is the child struggling in schoolhouse, butting heads with a parent, struggling with friends? Is there a re-marriage and the kid is not getting forth with the other parent? Is there something else to say it would exist better for the child to live with other parent primarily?"
What is the outcome of the custody decision on the child?
French cautions parents that this process is not easy, especially on the children. "A lot of kids say they want to file an election but then, when they realize that it is going to require them to sign a slice of paper that says they want to spend more time with dad than with mom or with mom than with dad, a lot of those 14-year-olds don't want to do information technology," French says.
French is also a GAL and has talked with kids in this controlling state of affairs. In her experience, this is a difficult state of affairs for children, "because frankly most kids do dearest both of their parents and they're afraid to upset one parent or some other, or they're afraid to disappoint the parent and not sign something."
Fifty-fifty with the changes fabricated to the law in 2008, French is unsure if the police force is beneficial. "I think it'southward a really tough law on kids and office of me wishes it didn't be because that's putting your kids in a actually hard position to make a determination about something that they may not be educated enough or mature enough to make a decision about—and if you've got some young parents who take it personally or don't have into account the child's best interests, that could really be detrimental to the parent and child relationship," she says.
What should parents do when confronting an election situation?
For some divorced parents, French continues, "if they are in tune with the child and have a good relationship, they will probable work out this consequence amidst themselves." She believes some parents may concord betwixt themselves to modify parenting time and avert the modification hearing.
"Elections come up virtually when it's a contentious situation to begin with and the parents aren't doing well to begin with. In that location is some sort of issue where the parents aren't doing well communicating or co-parenting, later a divorce," she says. "And then that escalates."
For parents in a difficult custody state of affairs, sitting downwardly with an experienced Georgia family constabulary chaser may help avoid a time to come custody battle.
For more information on this area, see our overview of family law.
Source: https://www.superlawyers.com/georgia/article/can-georgia-14-year-olds-choose-which-parent-to-live-with/22d7b9df-5de9-4658-a91b-4978cb1bb2bd.html
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