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State guide · GA

Georgia Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Georgia information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.

Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Georgia Superior Courts. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

How Georgia courts decide custody

Georgia.gov describes physical custody as where a child lives and legal custody as authority to make major decisions about the child's upbringing.Sources:File for Child Custody

Key legal sources

Parenting time

Rule 24.10 says a parenting plan must contain the information required by O.C.G.A. section 19-9-1(b) and presents a substantially similar form.Sources:Uniform Rules, Superior Courts of the State of Georgia

  • Georgia.gov says a parenting plan addresses decision-making and parenting time; parents may submit a joint plan when they agree, or separate proposed plans when they do not.Sources:File for Child Custody

Key legal sources

How to file

This draft is limited to an initial Georgia Superior Court child-custody and parenting-time proceeding after the filer has confirmed that a custody action is available. It excludes divorce, legitimation or paternity, support, modification, enforcement, emergency family-violence, dependency, adoption, nonparent, and interstate routes.Sources:File for Child Custody, Uniform Rules, Superior Courts of the State of Georgia

  1. Start with the Superior Court clerk in the county

    Georgia.gov directs a person beginning a child-custody proceeding to the Clerk's Office of the Superior Court and says a custody petition may be filed in the county's Superior Court. Confirm court, venue, and local requirements before relying on this limited statewide orientation.Sources:File for Child Custody

  2. Prepare the parenting plan required for the applicable custody action

    Rule 24.10 says each parent must prepare and submit a parenting plan, or the parties may jointly submit one, as directed by the judge in its stated permanent-custody and modification scope. The rule supplies a substantially similar plan form.Sources:Uniform Rules, Superior Courts of the State of Georgia

  3. Do not assume the available plan is a complete filing packet

    The official statewide family-law, child-custody, and parenting-plan pages provide orientation, and Rule 24.10 supplies a parenting-plan form; these materials do not enumerate a current complete initiating, service, and final-order packet for this selected route. Obtain local requirements from the clerk.Sources:Family Law, Child Custody, Parenting Plan, Uniform Rules, Superior Courts of the State of Georgia

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Atlanta Legal Aid Society

    Area served: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties, with limited statewide services where noted by the provider.

    Atlanta Legal Aid says it provides free civil legal help to people who cannot afford a private attorney.Sources:Get Help with Civil Legal Services

    Eligibility: The provider says applicants must meet low-income guidelines, with stated exceptions for some applicants. Applying does not establish representation or availability.

  • Georgia Legal Services Program

    Area served: 154 Georgia counties outside metro Atlanta; the provider excludes Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties.

    Georgia Legal Services Program says its regional offices provide free legal services, including family law, to qualifying people in its service area.Sources:Need Help, What We Do

    Eligibility: The provider says applicants generally must meet its income guidelines or be age 60 or older in most counties, and that other representation requirements apply. Applying is needed to learn eligibility.

Fee waivers

Official Georgia Courts materials include an Affidavit of Eligibility to Proceed in Forma Pauperis and an associated order form that refers to O.C.G.A. section 9-15-2.Sources:Affidavit of Eligibility to Proceed in Forma Pauperis, Order on Pauper's Affidavit

Who may qualify

  • The official order form shows that a court considers an affidavit and financial information when deciding whether to grant or deny a request to proceed without filing fees.Sources:Order on Pauper's Affidavit

What to do

  1. Use the current affidavit and confirm local fee-waiver procedure with the clerk

    The official Affidavit of Eligibility to Proceed in Forma Pauperis is a statewide form. The associated order form refers to the affidavit, financial information, and O.C.G.A. section 9-15-2; confirm any local filing procedure with the clerk.Sources:Affidavit of Eligibility to Proceed in Forma Pauperis, Order on Pauper's Affidavit

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

  • Georgia.gov says the court will issue a final parenting-plan order as part of a divorce decree for married parents or a legitimation and custody order for unmarried parents. This selected route excludes those distinct routes rather than combining their requirements.Sources:File for Child Custody

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