When parties of a divorce have children, custody and visitation inevitably become an issue. Child visitation in Georgia may also become an issue in an action for legitimation. As with most issues involving children, child visitation in Georgia is determined using the best interest of the child standard. The court has broad discretion in establishing child visitation. If the parties agree to a visitation schedule, as they are encouraged to do under the new Georgia Parenting Plan requirements, the court will adopt the agreement and incorporate it into the final order if it finds the agreement to be in the best interest of the child or children involved.

If the parents leave the issue of child visitation for the court to decide, the court may appoint a Guardian ad Litem to assist it in determining what, if any, child visitation is in the best interest of the child at issue. Where there is a history of domestic violence or questionable parental fitness, the court may order supervised visitation. Child visitation may be supervised by a third party (e.g. relative or friend) or by an agency. A child fourteen or older may elect not to visit and the court will take that election into account as well as the best interest of that child when determining child visitation. Children under fourteen have no say in visitation issues.

Once a court determines visitation and there is an order in effect, failure to abide by that order may result in contempt of court. Despite popular belief to the contrary, child visitation in Georgia is NOT conditional upon child support or alimony payments. A custodial parent cannot withhold visitation because the non-custodial parent is in arrears on child support payments. Confusion in this area can lead to pointless litigation.

A standard visitation schedule in Georgia includes the right to visitation for the non-custodial parent every other weekend and on alternating holidays. Weekend visitation generally begins on a Friday evening and ends that Sunday evening. Often, standard visitation in Georgia will include several additional weeks in the summer when the non-custodial parent can visit with the child. Parents who wish to come to an agreement can structure the child visitation schedule in a way that best suits their lifestyle, as long as it is in the best interest of the child. An example of a standard child visitation schedule in Georgia can be found at http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/dekalbflic/pdf/visitation.pdf. Because visitation rights will affect both you and your child’s daily life, it is important to seek the advice of a Georgia family law attorney.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 4:48 am and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.