Grandparents' Custody Rights Attorney in Woodstock, GA

Grandparents' Custody Rights Overview

When families are coming apart at the seams – when a parent has died, is incarcerated, ill, unemployed, indisposed, or has just plain disappeared – grandparents often step in to save the day. They take the children for a limited period or for the duration. Grandparents say, with evident pride, that's what families do.

Until recently this movement of children from home to home has occurred with little legal framework. In the past few decades, a body of law has developed that clarifies the emerging rights of grandparents. The Shriver Law Firm of Woodstock, Georgia, has long experience protecting these natural caregivers.

In Georgia, the new laws give grandparents several options:

They may file a petition for deprivation in Juvenile Court, saying the children need better care than they are getting. The court may issue an order of temporary custody for up to two years, which is renewable.

They may apply for guardian status in Probate Court. This way the grandparents become legal guardians of the children. There is no time limit on this. Parents may revoke consent for or challenge this application in court.

They may file a petition for custody in Superior Court. This is the most extreme of the three. If successful, it grants sole permanent custody of the child or children.

Georgia law also allows grandparents to seek visitation or parenting time with grandchildren when one parent is out of the picture and the remaining one refuses contact.

If you are a grandparent in Georgia and you are in a situation that you cannot help but be involved in, call The Shriver Law Firm in Woodstock. We are skilled in family mediation and committed to the best practices in communication.

Areas of Practice

• Grandparents' Custody Rights
• Family Law
• Custody & Visitation
• Divorce
• Child Support
• Estate Planning
• Elder Law