Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

I am divorced from my husband and have joint custody of our adopted son. since the divorce he will average visiting 3-5 times per year, staying an hour at the most. he is an alcoholic and has been to rehab 3-4 times in the last 4 years. our son is 5 years old and is beginning to ask more and more questions about his dad. his dad lives about 100 miles from our house but continues to come up with excuses why he can't visit. at the divorce the judged ruled that visitation would be granted as long as an approved adult of my choice was present. by the way, he lives with a lady who is also an alcoholic.( they met in rehab ) recently i have had some health issues that have made me start thinking about what would happen to my son in the event of my death. is there anything i can do to have his parental rights removed ? my brother and his wife live next door and my son basically looks at my brother as a father figure. i know my ex has rights but it would be a tragic mistake if he had to go live in his fathers environment.


Asked on 3/25/10, 5:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

As a general rule there is no such thing in these cases as terminating rights. I notice in these cases that custodial parents make these matters worse by wanting to file something. If he isn't comiong around much, there is no real problem now. Filing something could actually encourage him to come around more. When it isn't broke, don't fix it, and when there isn't a fix, don't risk one that usually fails.

He does get custody if you die. But there are some protections you can do with a will.

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Answered on 3/30/10, 6:34 pm


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