Georgia Child Visitation Rights for Fathers

• Fathers in Georgia have rights to fair visitation privileges in cases of divorce or separation.Child image by ivan kmit from Fotolia.com
  
  Issues revolving around visitation can become extremely difficult to resolve in cases of parental divorce or separation. In the past, some parents were able to deny the rights of the other parent by moving from state to state and confusing the issues of the case's jurisdiction. Today, all states have adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act so individuals in Georgia can turn to the Georgia Circuit Court to ask for resolution of these issues.
  
  

Georgia Court Jurisdiction

• A father can apply to the Georgia circuit court for an increase in visitation with his child if circumstances prove that Georgia should hold jurisdiction over this decision. These circumstances include considering Georgia as the child's home state, the parent filing for court intervention lives in Georgia and the other parent took the child out of Georgia or another state's court has ruled that Georgia has jurisdiction.
  
  

Circumstances Change

• Fathers in Georgia who wish to exercise their visitation rights should know that any court decision that a court has rendered in the past can change as circumstances change and as the child ages. In deciding visitation rights for a father, a Georgia court will examine the relationship of the child to both parents. The Georgia circuit court that hears the case may request an evaluation of the child before making a determination about the father's visitation rights. The evaluation will include an interview by a court-appointed agent, possibly a child psychologist or social worker, to gauge the child's thoughts and wishes and ensure that the decision will reflect the best interest of the child. Once the court has this information it can determine a visitation schedule that respects the father's rights but above all respects the best interests of the child.
  
  

Court-Ordered Visitation When Necessary

• A father in Georgia should make every effort to work out adequate visitation privileges with his ex-wife. Georgia courts expect that, whenever possible, the parents will work together for the benefit of the child and this includes visits between the non-custodial parent and the child. When the custodial parent tries to prevent the visits or to exercise control to limit the visits unfairly, the non-custodial parent can petition the court to set reasonable visitation and obligate the custodial parent to abide by that decision. Fathers in Georgia who feel that their ex-wives have used their position as the custodial parent to prevent the father from seeing his children as much as the father believes that he should, may as a last resort appeal to the court for relief. The court may order mediation as a strategy that can resolve the issue, but if necessary the court can issue a legal ruling that obliges both parties to abide by a fair visitation schedule.