Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

In a situation where a temp guardianship was given to maternal grandparents because of mother and fathers incarceration, the temp guardianship has been in place for five years and now the father has cleaned up his life, has had the same job for four years, stable residence, two vehicles (both run and are suitable for children) has 3 other children living in the home and passed a hair test for the court. Now the problem, when the first court hearing came the opposing lawyer was all about getting the divorce settled and the settlement reguarding the minor child was left open. That meant I went to juvenile court and filled for removal of the guardianship and asked that the child be returned to her father. The guardian opposed. Now to my understanding because the divorce is final if the temp guardianship is removed it will go back to mother and father even tho she's not asking for the child. Is this true?


Asked on 7/16/13, 9:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Gardner Hicks, Massey & Gardner, LLP

If the temporary guardianship is ended, guardianship reverts to the parent who has custody. If no order was entered in a divorce to deal with this issue, custody reverts back to both parents. If the divorce case is closed, it will take a new action to determine custody for the father to obtain sole custody. If the divorce case is still open, he needs to go back before the divorce court and address this issue. If this is not done, and the guardianship is terminated, then the mother and father both have custody, which can lead to conflicts if the mother is still around and tries to take the child from school, etc. When both parents have custody, law enforcement will have no basis to step in and chose one over the other if there is a conflict.

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Answered on 7/18/13, 7:42 am


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