Custody

The law allows for a person to establish him/herself as an “equitable caregiver,” which is a person who has acted as a parent for a child under certain circumstances. An equitable caregiver could be:

• a stepparent who has not adopted the child, but has acted as the child’s parent;
• a parent’s romantic partner who has acted as the child’s parent;
• another family member who has been acting as the child’s parent; or
• another person substantially involved in the child’s life in a parental role.

You can only get custody or visitation as an equitable caregiver if the child’s parents are separated, and the child is not living with both parents.¹ However, you cannot ask the court to become an equitable caregiver if:

• your relationship to the child was created as a result of “dependency proceedings,” or because the child was removed from his/her parents’ home as a result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation and placed with you; or
• there is an open child welfare and youth services case from the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services about the child and his/her parents.²

For more information on how you can convince the judge that you should be considered an “equitable caregiver,” go to What will I need to prove to the judge to establish myself as an equitable caregiver?

¹ O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3.1h)
² O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3.1(i)