Superior Court: First File, Clean Story
This page is for the initial lane: you need a Georgia county Superior Court to establish custody and visitation, not to rewrite an order you have lived under for years and not to punish someone for ignoring lines you have not yet documented cleanly. If your facts are really "facts changed since the last order," compare modification before you pour history into a start packet.
This lane
Establish the case
No operative framework yet, or you are answering in the same establishment posture.
Usually not
Enforcement-shaped
Written time is specific; misses repeat; you can quote clauses.
Log & prep →Before you walk into the clerk window
Initial filings that lose readers fast
- Adjectives instead of dates tied to school or care.
- "Primary custody" with no calendar someone could type.
- Exhibits that do not match any row in a short timeline.
Relevant Georgia law
The statutes and appellate decisions below are the ones Georgia courts actually apply here. Educational orientation only — not legal advice. Read the source before you rely on it.
Statutes
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15 — Child Support Guidelines for Determining Amount of Award
Georgia uses an income-shares model: the basic support obligation is read from a statutory table keyed to the parents' combined adjusted gross income and the number of children, then adjusted by a mandatory parenting-time adjustment, a low-income adjustment, and any deviations. Current through the 2025 session, effective January 1, 2026.
- O.C.G.A. § 19-6-15(c), (i), (j), (k) - Rebuttable Presumption; Deviations; Involuntary Loss of Income; Modification of Child Support
The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption in every proceeding, and a court or jury may deviate from it only with written findings stating the reasons, the amount the guidelines would have required, how the presumptive amount would be unjust or inappropriate, and how the deviation serves the child's best interest; no deviation may seriously impair the custodial parent's ability to maintain minimally adequate housing, food and clothing for the child. A parent may petition to modify only on a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or the child's needs, and may not file again within two years of the final order on that parent's previous modification petition unless the noncustodial parent failed to exercise, or exercised more than, the ordered parenting time, or the petition rests on an involuntary loss of income. For an involuntary loss of income of 25 percent or more (job loss, health, incarceration and similar), the support attributable to the lost income stops accruing from service of the modification petition, but leaving a job without good cause does not count as involuntary, and the court may phase in a new award over up to one year. A custodial parent who wins an upward modification based on the noncustodial parent's failure to be available and willing to exercise court-ordered parenting time shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and litigation expenses. The text is the Georgia Child Support Commission's copy current through the 2025 session; HB 1268 (2026) made editorial amendments to § 19-6-15 effective July 1, 2026.
- O.C.G.A. § 19-9-3 — Establishment and Review of Child Custody and Visitation
Neither parent has a prima-facie right to custody and no form of custody is presumed; the judge alone awards custody on the child's best interests, weighing 17 enumerated factors. A child 14 or older may select the custodial parent (presumptive unless contrary to best interests, and itself a possible material change once per two years); for ages 11-13 the child's wishes are considered but not controlling. Visitation or parenting time may be reviewed and modified without a material-change showing, no more than once every two years.
Key cases
- Scott v. Scott, 276 Ga. 372 (Ga. 2003)
A self-executing change-of-custody provision that fails to give paramount import to the child's best interests at the time of the triggering event, such as a parent's relocation, violates Georgia's public policy expressed in O.C.G.A. 19-9-3 and must be stricken, even though such provisions are not expressly prohibited by statute. The court distinguished, and left standing, flexible provisions like those approved in Weaver and Pearce that accommodate a 14-year-old child's statutory right to select the parent with whom to live. A finding at the time of the decree that a future relocation would harm the child does not save the provision, because whether a change of custody is warranted depends on the facts when the modification is sought. Scott overruled Holder v. Holder and disapproved Carr v. Carr, the earlier decisions that had enforced automatic custody changes triggered by a parent's remarriage or relocation.
Related guides
More Georgia forms
General support (not Georgia-specific)
Official links
- Georgia.gov child custody overview: https://georgia.gov/file-child-custody
- Georgia Courts family self-help: https://georgiacourts.gov/a2j/self-help-resources/family-law/
Initial petition questions
What is this petition actually opening?
A county Superior Court file where you ask the court to establish custody, visitation, and usually a parenting-plan framework. It is the start lane: you are not yet asking the court to rewrite a long-settled final order.
I already have a signed schedule. Why might this still be the wrong packet?
Because your live issue may be compliance with existing language or a material change that needs modification. Those stories need different captions and different proof posture than a fresh establishment filing.
What should I clarify with myself before I file?
The week you can defend on a calendar, the decision rules you want, and which county procedures apply to service and parenting-plan expectations. Volume without a week map reads like noise.
MyCustodyCoach is not a law firm. Court rules, fees, and form versions change by county; confirm what applies to your case with official court resources or counsel you hire.