Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

Re: Second Hand Smoke

I have seen cases in which the visiting parent allowed the child, who was highly allergic (eczema flareups) to cats and their dander to go to his friend's house, where there was a cat, and the child broke out after every visit. The judge in that case modified visitation to order the father not to have the child around cats and to take precautions before taking her anywhere that may have cats. He was very close to ordering supervised visitation, but gave the father a chance and the father did not cause any further problems of that sort again.

The question is whether or not the judge could modify visitaion and custody to address this issue and the answer is that the judge does have that authority. The next question is whether or not you have adequate evidence to prove your case. Certainly, your daughter (if she is old enough) could testify (or the court could appointy a guardian ad litem to investigate the case, including visiting the house where the mom stays, unannounced, to get an idea of how bad the conditions are). The Mom may even admit to the smoking. You could have the doctor testify to the helath problems the child has had.

Based on this, it is likely you have a good case to modify custody and visitation and maybe even the child support provisions (such as having her made responsible for all medical bills or all bils related to respiratory problems, for example).

I suggest you contact an attorney to go over all of the facts to get a better idea after a full consultation. Please let us know if we can help.