Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

There are two kinds of custody - legal custody and physical custsody. Legal custody refers to things like access to school records and medical records of the child, how the child will be raised, where the child will go to school and what religion the child will be. These decisions are usually jointly made by the parents and legal custody is almost always joint unless the mother is really unfit. You do not indicate, but were you married to the father and divorced? If not and the child was born out of wedlock, was the child legitimated? If not, then the father needs to do that BEFORE he thinks about custody.

The other kind of custody is physical custody. It refers to where the child lives on a daily basis - who feeds and clothes the child, gets the child ready for school, etc. Physical custody has to be primarily with one parent or the other with the non-custoidal parent getting visitation.

At age 14, the child can decide. If the child is over 11 but under 14, the child may express a preference, but it is not necessarily controlling. Under age 14, the court looks at a whole host of factors. It boils down to one factor really - what is going to be in the child's best interests? (your best interest and the father's don't count and the child's best interests are not synonomous with your or the father's interests).

My advice would be to speak with a local family law attorney. While this is not a factor for deciding who gets custody, money is a big issue. Do either of you have the funds to sustain a legal battle? Custody actions get very expensive very quickly and in reality, serve nobody's interests, least of all the childs. So the father can say what he wants but the question is going to be whether he has the money to back it up. It also depends on the age of the child. If we are talking about a baby, chances are that a judge will not take a baby from its mama (assuming that the mother and father are fit parents). However, if the child is 14 and wants to live with daddy, then the father is going to get custody. As I said, if the child is born out of wedlock and the father has not legitimated the child, then the father has no right to custody. Because I don't know any of these facts or circumstances, that is why you need to discuss this with a family lawyer who knows the judges in the county where any custody suit will be brought. If money is tight, pay a lawyer for 30 minutes of time just to go over the options.

Personally, I think it is way better for the child to know that there are 2 parents who love him/her and it will be cheaper for both of you if custody and support can be worked out without legal battles.

Regardless of whether you compromise or do not, you need the advice of a lawyer. A consultation is not expensive, and your children are too important to make decisions about without legal advice.