Child Visitation Terms in Georgia Divorce
Best Interest of the Child
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The context of which visitation rights are decided
Grandparent Visits
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Visitation awarded to the grandparents that doesn’t interfere with the parent child relationship
Guardian ad Litem
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A Guardian ad litem is a third-party evaluator who studies the details of the relationships between the child and each parent, and makes recommendations to the family court.
Legitimation
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In Georgia, with unmarried parents, the biological father does not have automatic rights to visitation. A legitimation process is the first step to assert a right to gain parental visitation rights.
Parenting Plan
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This is a required part of a divorce in Georgia. The Parenting Plan is a formal Agreement that delineates core issues such as visitation schedules, custody, certain parental conduct (i.e., no overnight sleepovers by non-relatives), and aspects of co-parenting.
Pendente Lite
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Temporary circumstances made for child visitation until a hearing. This is often a short-term solution to allow the non-custodial parent visitation time, and not be alienated to to conflict between the parents.
Unsupervised Visits
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The non-custodial parent spends time with the child without the other parent being present. This is the customary arrangement for visitation. Effectively this is the drop-off and pick-up custody exchange.
Supervised Visits
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The non-custodial parent spends time with the child with the presence of another person. Supervised visitation is typically associated with visitation where the non-custodial parent has substance abuse problems, mental illness, or a less that desireable home environment.
Visitation
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Visitation refers to in-person time for the non-custodial parent has rights to see the child(ren). In Georgia, there are typical visitation schedules, however; the parents may deviate from the typical arrangement. Parents have the right to informally accommodate each other for visitation outside of the set schedule. This is common when a parent has to travel, has an extended illness, or has distant relatives visiting.
Visitation Order
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A visitation order may be issued when the parents fail to create and agree upon a visitation schedule. Common issues resolved are holiday visitation, school break visitation, and religious holidays.
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