Ending a relationship is always challenging, especially when you and your significant other share children together. Unfortunately, figuring out how to divide parenting time is not nearly as easy as it is to determine who gets to keep the silverware or the furniture. If you are dealing with a child custody issue after a break-up, you must consider each parent’s parental rights, their relationship with your child, and several other factors. 

If you are trying to figure out what will happen to your child custody arrangement after a break-up, make sure you know which factors the court considers before making any custody orders. 

Establishing Parental Rights 

For married parents, determining parental rights is usually very straightforward, but when a child’s parents are unmarried, it can be much more difficult to determine parental rights. And, in order to obtain any type of custodial rights, you must first establish that you have parental rights to the child in question.  

Without establishing paternity and legitimation, an unmarried father will not automatically receive parental rights, even if he is the child’s biological father and has assumed a paternal role in the child’s life. A biological mother, on the other hand, is automatically granted parental rights. Likewise, if a married woman gives birth, her husband is presumed to be the father and he receives parental rights automatically.  

In order to establish parental rights, a father must file an action for legitimation. In that same action the court can make a determination of custody, parenting time and child support. Unfortunately, the law does not provide for any temporary parenting rights unless the mother consents. That may mean in some cases that you cannot visit with your child until you get a final order. 

Once a father obtains paternal rights, he has the right to pursue custody in the same way a mother would. Both mothers and fathers have equal rights to child custody. 

How Is Child Custody Determined? 

Child custody is determined on a case-by-case basis, which means there is no standard arrangement that all unmarried couples use when they break up. Parents have the option of setting a parenting plan through mediation or outside of court, but if they are not able to reach an agreement on their own, they will have to bring their case before a judge. 

In court, the judge will consider the following factors before determining child custody: 

• The child’s relationship with each parent; 
• Each parent’s health and ability to care for the child; 
• The child’s relationship with each parent’s community, household, and other family members; 
• If one parent acted as the child’s primary caregiver in the past; 
• The child’s wishes, if the child is deemed mature enough to express an opinion; 
• Any history of domestic violence or abuse; and 
• Ability to provide for the needs of the child. 

What Are Our Custody Options? 

Depending on each of these factors, the judge may decide to grant joint or sole physical custody. In a joint physical custody arrangement, the parents will share parenting time equally. If one parent is granted primary physical custody, the other parent will be scheduled specific visitation time with the child on a regular basis. In rare cases, usually when child abuse has occurred, the court may grant one parent sole custody without allowing the other parent any visitation rights, or only supervised visits with a social worker present. 

Let Our Child Custody Attorneys Help You 

If you and your child’s other parent are no longer together and you are concerned about the next step, our firm is prepared to help. Dreyer Law has extensive experience working with unmarried parents in a variety of complex or problematic custody situations. If you need help with your custody case or modification, we can help. 

When dealing with a child custody issue, trying to reach an agreement through mediation could be a great alternative to traditional court litigation. When you work with a mediator, you and the child’s other parent will be able to negotiate the terms of your custody agreement in a way that best suits your lifestyles and the needs of your child. However, when you do not know what to expect from the mediation process, it might feel a bit daunting. 

If you will be handling a child custody case through mediation, make sure you know what to expect from the process and how to make the most of it. 

How Mediation Works 

Through mediation, parents can negotiate a child custody agreement with the help of an unbiased third-party mediator. The mediator can help settle arguments, offer potential resolutions, and notify each party of the child custody laws applicable to their case. Each party may also bring their respective divorce or family lawyers to their mediation meetings. However, because the mediator is not invested in either side, he or she can help both parties reach a fair agreement based on what is best for the overall situation. 

The goal of mediation is to facilitate a useful discussion where both parents work together to make the arrangements that work best for their child. Mediation does not encourage contention, but focuses instead on peaceful, productive negotiations that benefit everyone involved. 

The Benefits of Mediation 

Mediation can be used to help with a variety of family law issues, including divorce, spousal support modifications, child support modifications, visitation issues, and child custody. Mediating child custody can be extremely helpful because it helps you and your co-parent to work together and find a solution that works for each of you and, most importantly, what is best for your child. 

Benefits of Mediation for Child Custody Include: 

• Quicker than litigation 
• Typically less expensive than the litigation process 
• Encourages negotiation rather than contention 
• More private than litigation 
• The parents are in control of their own parenting plan 

• Both parties are free to find creative, personalized solutions 

Making the Most of The Mediation Process 

If you and your co-parent will use mediation for your child custody case, make sure you know how to make the most of your situation. For this purpose, you will want your own family lawyer to assist you with the mediation process. A knowledgeable lawyer can inform you of your legal rights and help protect your interests if your ex becomes argumentative or manipulative. Also, if your ex has a lawyer, being the only one without legal representation could put you at a significant disadvantage. Even though a mediator will be there to remind both parties of their options, the mediator is unbiased and will not prioritize your interests like your attorney will. 

Give Dreyer Law a call for all your family law needs. We are here to be your legal representation.  

A divorce is more than just a personal change, it can alter your professional life as well. While you might be focusing primarily on the emotional pressures and personal issues that come with divorce, there are several practical concerns that require your attention. Often when a person leaves a marriage, this change also means you might have to rethink the way you currently work. For instance, if you work full-time, you might have to adjust to a new role as a single parent by cutting hours. Alternatively, if you were not working during your marriage, you might need a job to help support yourself. 

Changing Your Priorities At Work 

While you are going through your divorce, you are going to be busy. Between meetings with your attorney, conferences with your financial advisor or tax accountant, court dates, and gathering information and documents, you will have your hands full. Unfortunately, some of your divorce tasks might require week-day work. You might receive calls from your attorney or bank while you are in the office, need to make an appointment over lunch, or go to court on a workday. For this reason, you will likely need some flexibility while you work these details out. Do not be afraid to be open about your needs but be practical about balancing work and your personal life. 

Cutting Back Hours Or Increasing Hours 

The divorce process can be expensive, especially if you pay for your own residence now, or if you pay alimony to your spouse. In either case, you might need to increase your work hours to earn more. Alternatively, if you have a child, you might need to cut back your hours as you adjust to life as a newly single parent. On days when you have custody, you may need to leave early to pick up your child from school. 

Re-Entering The Workforce
Many stay-at-home parents must reenter the workforce after they divorce to pay for their new home, food, clothes, and other essentials. While a stay-at-home spouse may receive spousal support as part of the divorce settlement, it may be temporary or may not be enough to allow that person to remain unemployed. Even going back to work part-time can be challenging, especially if you have not worked for an extended period. If you have a degree or past career, this might be easier, but in any case, it might be wise to consider educational courses to refresh your skills.  

Start Preparing Early
Depending on your situation, there are several ways you can make this new transition easier on yourself and your family. If you have children, do not be afraid to ask relatives and close friends for help, at least in the beginning as you and your ex-spouse get the details figured out. Childcare can be expensive, so figure out what you can do to accommodate your children while you work. 

Even if you do not have kids; you could benefit from looking into your budget and figuring out where you stand. 

• Do you need a higher paying job to support this change? 
• Do you need to put in more hours? 
• Are you going to need to cut back on hours to stay home more? 
• Will you need to pay for childcare? 
• Will you need to find a job? If so, do you need training? 

Call Dreyer Law today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your Family Law needs.  

This is a hard time economically for everyone. Even if you are able to work, you may be facing cuts, loss of benefits, or the anxiety of worrying about the sustainability of your job if this lasts for months into the future. Some people have lost their jobs completely and are now spending days on end trying to obtain the federal and state benefits they may be entitled to as relief. If you are the person paying support, you are worrying about your ability to do so; if you are the person receiving support, you may be needing that support more than ever. We can all understand both sides of this issue. The bad news is that your current path to relief may be a bit more difficult than with other family law issues, at least through litigation. The good news is that attorneys can work together or with alternate dispute resolution to come up with a solution that addresses the specific issues of your case. 

You Can Not Pay 

If you have less income, or none at all, you may not be able to make your current support payment. However, you are still obligated to pay your court-ordered support. If the state is enforcing your support order, you may be able to contact them to find out if there are any steps towards relief. Your ability to seek relief through the court will be determined by your court’s current emergency response situation and if they deem your case to be enough of an emergency to move forward before opening up to all cases.  

You Are Not Receiving Your Court-Ordered Support 

Unfortunately, the primary issue for the receiving parent remains the state or court’s current capability to hear any cases that are not considered an emergency. I would suggest that the ability to pay or receive support for children is a personal emergency for the family involved. The issue is simply the capacity of the courts under current COVID restrictions to help. If you are in the position of not receiving the support you need for your children, be sure to keep track of all of the funds that are past due and any and all receipts or other documentation you can gather to show amounts due under your current order. You will likely use that information once the courts open in some form of contempt or enforcement action to recover past due support. 

Negotiation And Alternate Dispute Resolution 

Nobody enjoys giving out the advice that we have to wait an unknown amount of time before seeking relief for our clients. Child support is another area that is seeing more use of direct negotiation and use of alternate dispute resolution resources such as mediation and arbitration. Attorneys are able to help craft solutions that speak not only to their client’s particular needs, but to the objective issues of the day. A general example would be an agreement where the parties acknowledge the temporary nature of this economic emergency and review their current finances. They can then come to an agreement to allow for temporary monthly payment and adjustments for current child care and other expenses, and create a jointly agreed path forward to move back into the current order and pay any arrears as able. Of course, any agreement should be looking not only to the parents’ economic status and ability to receive COVID-related benefits, but towards making sure there is as little as possible economic detriment to the children involved. 

For some people, the concept of negotiating temporary child support issues will seem relatively straightforward. For others, they may find that the conflict level in their case results in even objectively understandable concepts being difficult to apply to their lives. Others will try to take advantage of the situation by delaying their return to work to lessen on-going support obligations. 

Regardless, Dreyer Law can help determine how much facilitation our clients may need. Give Dreyer Law a call today to discuss your child support needs. We are here to help you through this pandemic as best as we can.  

Choosing to date before your divorce is finalized can be a tricky call, especially because you are not necessarily right or wrong one way or another. Everyone moves on in different ways and at different speeds, and some people take longer to get back out there than others. However, it is important to be mindful of how quickly you do decide to move on because dating during the divorce or separation process can bring about additional problems and challenges. 

If you are considering dating during your divorce or legal separation, make sure you know how it may affect you in the long run. 

The Legal Aspects: Potential Implications 

During a divorce, much of your private life becomes part of a legal proceeding. Your personal life will be scrutinized by attorneys and possibly before the court. This means your actions during your divorce can affect the way in which your divorce is settled, especially regarding child custody, child support, spousal support, and property division. Although the law does not outright disfavor you if you are dating before your divorce is finalized, your love life can have a more subtle effect on certain legal outcomes. 

If you date during your divorce, your spouse could claim that you are not paying as much attention to your children, especially if you spend time with your new partner while you have custody of your children. As a result, their testimony of your role as a parent could harm your child custody case, resulting in a child custody outcome that is less favorable to you. If you spend a lot of money on romantic partners, your spouse could also claim that you are spending marital assets. Additionally, if you move in and combine households with a new partner, you could become exempt from receiving spousal support, or you may be awarded fewer assets during the property division. 

Your Feelings Could Be Compromised 

You know your own needs better than anyone else, but that does not mean your well-intended decision now will not hurt you later. Some people may find that dating immediately after the end of their last relationship is a freeing, necessary step to help them move on. It is important to consider how this decision could jeopardize your own emotions or affect your decision-making process during a legal proceeding. A divorce is a hefty life choice and the decisions you make during a divorce can affect your life many years into the future, from your financial well-being to your relationships with your children. Consider how combining the emotional toll and stress of a divorce with the feelings brought about by pursuing new relationships will affect your ability to handle the life-altering decisions you will need to make as your divorce progresses. 

If you can wait to reenter the dating world until after the papers have been signed, you will face far fewer risks of negative repercussions. Dating during your divorce is not against any rules, but it can complicate the divorce process and might make things more difficult for you, both emotionally and legally.  

To learn more about the divorce process, call Dreyer Law to set up a free consultation.  

Creating a parenting plan is never easy, especially when your children are still young. Older children are often better equipped to handle divorce and separation issues, or they are at least able to grasp what is going on. Babies and young children, however, do not understand what is happening and ideally should be receiving attention and care from both parents during these early years. For this reason, it can be particularly difficult to create a schedule for a baby when the parents live in different households. 

Sync Your Parenting Schedules and Routines 

Keeping children on a schedule is extremely important, but when it comes to babies and toddlers, this step is crucial. For babies, everything is new, and keeping them fed and well rested is key to ensuring they grow and develop as they should. Toddlers are not quite so delicate, but they also thrive under a set schedule and known routines. Switching from home to home can be hard on children of any age, but if both parents are able to stick to the same schedule and routines, it can provide the children with a sense of normalcy and steadiness. 

In order to sync your schedules, you need to come up with a consistent parenting plan. To which that both parents can strictly follow. Changing things week-by-week can be extremely challenging and could be stressful for your children, so make sure you find a custody arrangement that benefits everyone in some way. Keeping a steady day-to-day plan can also help significantly. Get together with your co-parent and settle on a shared schedule that includes nap times, feeding times, bedtimes, and other important daily events. 

Keep Visits Short 

Young children are particularly sensitive to their caretakers and they do best when they are able to spend time with both parents on a regular basis. Older children are usually more capable of balancing time with either parent and could do well with switching off between parents every week or every few days. Young children, however, typically need to see each parent every couple of days. For this reason, most child psychologists and other experts suggest that parents who share custody split their parenting time in 2 to 3-day increments. Or, if trading off parenting responsibilities every couple of days is not an option for you, consider scheduling visits with the other parent in between custody switches.  

Communicate About Milestones 

Young children hit new developmental milestones almost daily, and when parents share caretaker responsibilities, both are bound to miss certain achievements. If the two of you are amicable, try sending photos or videos of these moments to one another; it could help you cope with the time apart from your child. 

Even if you cannot communicate this well with your ex, you should at least tell them about any new developments that could affect your child’s care. For example, if your child learned how to crawl out of the crib, make sure your co-parent is aware so that he or she can take the necessary safety precautions. 

Creating a parenting plan is never easy, but with the help of an experienced child custody attorney, it is certainly doable. If you need help with a child custody or visitation issue, or if you need to modify an existing parenting plan, Dreyer Law is here to help. We offer free consultations for all Family Law needs.  

When a couple has decided to divorce, pregnancy can be incredibly stressful. While some couples may choose to postpone the divorce until after the child is born, others feel waiting is not an option. 

Although the courts cannot prevent you from divorcing simply because a spouse is pregnant, you may encounter some legal issues as you begin the process. 

In Georgia, all children born in wedlock or within the usual period of gestation thereafter are legitimate, and deemed the legal children of both spouses. If one of the spouses is not the biological parents of the child, it must be indicated in the Stated in the Petition for Divorce or challenged in the Answer and Counterclaim for Divorce and in the Final Decree of Divorce. If there is a disagreement regarding the parentage of the child, there are several possible outcomes, such as: 

• If the pregnant woman believes her spouse or partner is the parent, she can allege it in court. 

• If the spouse or partner believes he is the parent, he can admit parentage. 
• If the pregnant woman believes a third person is the parent of her child, she can sue that person to establish parentage. 
• A potential father may step forward and attempt to establish his parentage. 
• A spouse may challenge paternity.  

A legitimation action is separate from the divorce case and will determine the legal parentage of a child, as well as child custody, parenting plan details, and child support. 

Dreyer Law has provided exceptional legal counsel and support to families throughout Coweta Judicial Circuit (Coweta, Carroll, Meriwether, Heard and Troup counties) for over three decades, handling all matters of family law, such as child custody, child support, and divorce. We are well-equipped to handle all divorce and family law matters, no matter your circumstances. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation. 

Going through a divorce is hard enough, but when your spouse is an addict, the entire process can be much more challenging. Your spouse’s addiction may have been the reason for your divorce, or it could be a newly developed habit since you have decided to split. They may be addicted to prescription drugs, illegal substances, or alcohol. Whatever the situation, divorcing a spouse while they are dealing with addiction can be both painful and frustrating. 

Addicts often exhibit certain characteristics and behaviors that make it difficult for their friends and family to interact with them. As their spouse, or their soon-to-be-ex-spouse, you may catch the brunt of their misconduct. To make your divorce process more manageable, make sure you know what to expect when divorcing an addict and find out what you can do to make the ordeal easier. 

Initiating the Divorce Process 

Georgia is a no-fault divorce state, which means you are not required to file a divorce because of a specific reason, like adultery or addiction. However, you can still allege other fault grounds such as adultery, abuse, and addiction. However, their addiction will undoubtedly affect the divorce process in other ways. Addicts often exhibit certain behaviors which can make them unreliable, unstable, and even dangerous. 

If a person’s addiction can be proven, either through criminal records, drug tests, evidence of time in a rehab facility, or other means, the court may be hesitant to give the addict certain privileges. In order to determine how your case will play out, it is important for you to work with an attorney who has experience working on other cases where addiction played a significant role. 

How Addiction Will Impact Child Custody 

When children are involved in the marriage, the court will likely take additional action to ensure that both parents are fit and able, especially if there are allegations of alcoholism or drug addiction on the table. Judges will consider the health and abilities of either parent when deciding what child custody arrangement is in the best interest of the child. 

A parent’s substance abuse habits can be held against them if it in any way affects their ability to care for their child. For example, someone battling a heroin addiction is likely not a good candidate for joint custody because their actions could endanger their child.  

The Court May Consider the Following Alternatives: 

• The addicted parent may be allowed visitation rights when he or she is sober. 
• The addicted parent may only be allowed supervised visitation. 
• The addicted parent could be required to submit to regular or random drug and alcohol screenings. 
• The addicted parent could be required to go to a rehabilitation facility, Alcoholics Anonymous, or another type of help group. 
• The addicted parent could be required to provide a breath sample, into an alcohol sensing unit, both prior to and after visitation.  

Although the superior court does not have the authority to terminate one party’s parental rights, except in the case of adoption, if the addiction is severe the court could transfer the case to the juvenile court that would have that authority if it was deemed necessary. 

How Addiction Could Affect Property Division and Spousal Support 

Divorcing an addict could lead to several other challenges, including those affecting property division and spousal support. 

In Georgia, the court will aim to divide all assets equally and fairly, but if one spouse has squandered the marital funds to support their addiction, that face could be taken into account when the property is divided. The same can be said of alimony. The court may award the sober spouse more spousal support if the addicted spouse spent an unfair share of the marital assets. However, this could be reversed in some rare instances if the addict’s problem is connected to a health issue. For example, if your spouse’s addiction is connected to a mental health issue, they may require financial support to help with treatment during and after the divorce. 

Overall, divorcing a spouse dealing with a drug addiction or alcoholism can be particularly challenging. You may have to deal with more contention, more arguments, and more complex legal issues. Call Dreyer Law today to set up a free consultation. Having an experienced family lawyer on your side makes facing these problems drastically easier. 

Before getting married in Georgia, there are several legal requirements a couple must be sure to meet. Just as there are legal requirements for marriage, there are legal requirements that must be met for a couple to get a divorce. 

If you are considering filing for a divorce, it may be helpful to understand the requirements you will need to meet to legally do so. An understanding of these requirements can help you make choices that could impact the outcome of your divorce. 

Residency 

To get a divorce in Georgia, your situation must meet the residency requirement. This means that either you or your spouse must have been a Georgia resident for at least six months before you file the petition for divorce. 

Grounds 

The other requirement you must meet involves having a legally valid reason to end your marriage. These legally valid reasons are called grounds, and Georgia recognizes 13 different grounds for divorce. 

The 13 Grounds for Divorce in Georgia: 

• The marriage is irretrievably broken 
• Intermarriage by people within the prohibited degrees of kinship 

• Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage 
• Impotency at the time of the marriage 
• Force, menace, duress or fraud in obtaining the marriage 
• Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband at the time of the marriage (and unknown to the husband) 
• Adultery during the marriage 

• Desertion 
• The conviction of a crime of moral turpitude that results in a prison sentence of two years or longer 
• Habitual intoxication 
• Cruel treatment 
• Incurable mental illness 

• Habitual drug addiction 

Most of the grounds for divorce are fault-based. Using a fault-based ground means that your spouse caused the need for divorce. However, you must be able to provide proof for whatever fault you choose or your petition for divorce may be denied. 

You can also get a divorce without blaming your spouse. To do this, you can use the ground that the marriage is irretrievably broken. Your spouse cannot generally object to a divorce based upon this ground. 

Practically, you would probably want to allege both that the marriage is irretrievably broken along with any applicable fault ground or at least reserve the right to amend your petition should that be necessary. Which option you chose depends upon the privacy you want to retain as to the reason for the divorce as your petition is a public document. 

There is an absolute minimum amount of time, 30 days, between the time your spouse is served the divorce papers and the time the divorce is finalized. However, only in cases where the parties reach an agreement in advance will that minimum time frame be an issue. 

Having a full understanding of the legal requirements for divorce can be helpful to have before you ask your spouse for divorce. Every divorcing couple in Georgia must meet the residency requirement. However, your unique situation should influence the ground you choose, which could have a lasting impact on the outcome of your divorce. Contact Dreyer Law to schedule a free consultation. Dreyer Law can help you with every step of the divorce process.  

According to the Georgia Department of Human Services, more than 15 percent of the state’s children were being raised by family members other than their parents. For some families, parents have died leaving children in need of care. For other families, parents are caught in struggles of drug abuse or mental health problems. Whatever the reason, if you are raising your relatives’ children, you may wonder if you could be eligible to receive financial support to help. 

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services has established the state’s Kinship Navigator Program. This program is designed to provide support for people raising relatives’ children. While a kinship navigator relationship may be informally established, it is possible for people to request and receive child support. This can provide not only financial assistance but also medical care for children. 

One of the ways this can happen is by diverting existing child support payments from the originally intended recipient parent to the grandparent or other relative taking care of the kids. The Division of Child Services may assist in locating parents and even in establishing paternity as part of seeking child support. If support is ordered, this agency may be able to facilitate or participate in enforcing such an order. 

This information is not intended to provide legal advice, but is meant to give Georgia residents who may be raising grandchildren or other family members’ children insight into how they may be eligible to receive child support. 

For all of your child support questions, give Dreyer Law a call to schedule a free consultation.