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Annulment

An ANNULMENT is a process by which a court of law will determine that the marriage between two people is VOID, or as if it never existed. Once a couple's marriage has been annulled, they are no longer married. The grounds for an annulment are very specific, so you should seek advice before deciding that an annulment is the best course of action.

Divorce

A DIVORCE dissolves a marriage between spouses. There are grounds for divorce, the most common of which is that the marriage between the parties is "irretrievably broken" and that there is no chance that the couple will reconcile. Divorcing spouses with children must take a divorcing parents seminar while their divorce is pending. If the parties can agree about the terms of the divorce, they can be divorced within 31 days after the divorce petition is filed.

Guardian Ad Litem

A Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) can be either a "lay" guardian ad litem or an attorney guardian ad litem. A GAL is usually requested by either the court or the parties to a divorce. The role of the GAL is to represent the child's best interests. Although one would think that a parent will always have the child's best interests, the child's best interests are at times different from the parent's opinion of what the child's best interests may be, requiring the child to have his or her own representation by a GAL.

Child Custody

A determination of custody or a change of custody for a child is best handled by an attorney. A parent, grandparent, or relative may petition a court for custody of a child, however the standards used by the court to make a custody decision will differ when making the decision between parent versus a parent or parent versus a grandparent. There are also timing requirements in some cases, making it difficult to bring an action to change custody if a determination of custody was made within two years prior to the new petition, unless there is a "material change in circumstance."

A new custody law goes into effect on January 1, 2008 which places new requirements on parents litigating a custody dispute. Parents will have to develop a parenting plan that provides guidance to the parents for custody, visitation, decision making between the parents, dispute resolution, providing for the child's expenses, transport for picking up and dropping off the child for visitation, whether or not supervision would be required during visitation, provisions for issues of family violence, and any limitations, if any, to the parent having custody.

Perhaps the best part of the new child custody law is the provision that there is no "automatic" presumption that custody should be with one parent over the other. For example, for fathers who have significant bonds with and who actively participate in their child's life, no longer would a presumption exist that the child should be in his or her mother's custody. The best interests of the child will control the decision making process of determining which parent will have custody of the child. Some of the factors the Judge will look at in determining which parent is awarded custody include the parent's involvement with the child's education, social, and extracurricular activities; the love, affection, bonding and emotional ties existing between each parent and the child; mental and physical health of each parent; and each parent's work schedule and flexibility to care for the child.

The new child custody law provides the judge presiding over the matter wide discretion over how custody is determined. It is in any parent's best interests to work with an attorney when dealing with custody issues. An attorney is familiar with court procedure and trained to advocate for you, while understanding the nuance of argument to the Court and how it can portray a parent's wishes for his or her child.

Child Support

Each child is entitled to the financial support of his or her parents. The laws regarding the amount of child support have changed recently, with the new guidelines going into effect in January of 2007. Georgia has moved from a percentage of gross income amount of child support, to a new method commonly called the shared income method. Under the new guidelines, the total amount of income for the parents and their respective percentage that income will be considered by the court when setting the amount of child support required. The new law also takes into consideration whether or not there are other children being supported, the amount of time the noncustodial parent spends with the child(ren), and how the child(ren) receive medical or other insurance coverage.

Legitimation and Paternity

Legitimation is the procedure available to a father of a child born out of wedlock to legitimate the child, thereby establishing the legal relationship between father and child. A mother can consent to a legitimation. If the mother does not consent to the legitimation it can still go forward, because it is in the child's best interests to have a legal father. Some Judges will not sign off on a legitimation case unless the results of a DNA paternity test are provided with the petition. Paternity is a legal action taken by a child's mother to establish the paternity of the child. A paternity action can also include a request by the mother to receive child support. In both cases, the father can ask for visitation.

Adoption

Adoptions establish a legal bond between a child and the adoptive parents. Upon adoption, the legal relationship of the child is as if the child were born to his or her adoptive parents. The child can then take the name of his or her new family and receive a new birth certificate.