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Custody decisions shape your child's everyday life, so it's normal to feel protective and unsure. Our Savannah child custody team at Modern Family Law helps parents create, change or enforce a parenting plan under Georgia law. Our custody attorneys keep the focus on your child, and your first consultation is free.
Custody can be decided in a divorce, a legitimation case or a case between parents who never married. Georgia requires a parenting plan in every custody case and gives neither parent a head start because of gender.
Our Savannah custody attorneys help you build a plan that fits your child and your family's real schedule, including deployments and rotating shifts.
Schedule a Free ConsultationGeorgia custody orders cover two kinds of custody.
Legal custody is about major decisions for your child's schooling, health care, religion and activities. Parents often share it, and the plan can give one parent the final say in a specific area.
Physical custody sets where your child lives and the parenting time schedule. Georgia has no automatic 50/50 rule; the judge decides what serves your child's best interests. At 14, a child can choose which parent to live with, and the court presumes that choice stands unless it isn't in the child's best interests. For children 11 to 13, the judge considers what the child wants.
Try different schedules with our parenting time calculator.
Savannah custody cases are filed in Chatham County Superior Court at 133 Montgomery Street. You can ask for custody in a divorce, or in a separate custody or legitimation case if you aren't married. If the other parent lives in Bryan or Effingham County, the case may need to be filed there.
Georgia courts can generally make custody orders only if your child has lived in Georgia for the past six months. Contested Chatham County cases are generally sent to mediation, which gives parents a chance to build the plan together.
Strong plans are detailed and realistic. They cover school breaks, holidays, travel and how you'll resolve disagreements.
When parents agree, the court usually approves the plan. If not, a judge decides based on your child's best interests. We help you show the facts that matter.
Parents at Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart face deployments, training rotations and permanent change of station moves. A good plan can include a deployment section, make room for a family member to keep up time with the child and set out what happens after a move.
Our Savannah custody attorneys will listen to your concerns and explain your options. Book a free consultation today.
At Modern Family Law, we look at custody from your child's point of view and explain the process clearly, so you can make calm, informed decisions.
Frequently asked questions
The judge decides based on the child's best interests, using factors in Georgia law such as each parent's relationship with the child, past caregiving and the stability of each home.
Your parenting plan can include that option, so a grandparent or other relative can keep up the child's time with your side of the family. It has to be written into the plan or approved by the court.
A parenting plan can include a deployment section that explains how parenting time, communication and any temporary changes work while a parent is away.
At 14, a child can choose which parent to live with, and that choice is presumed to stand unless it isn't in the child's best interests.
If you have a custody order, you usually must give the other parent notice before moving with the child. The court may then review the plan.
A custody case is usually filed in the county where the other parent lives, so the case may belong in Bryan or Effingham County instead of Chatham.
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