On January 1, 2008, Georgia enacted a new law that required all parties settling any custody or visitation issues to submit a “Parenting Plan” to the court. A Parenting Plan is a legal document that requires the parties to specifically outline which parent is entitled to primary physical custody, secondary custody or visitation, and legal custody. The Parenting Plan must also state how the parents will make legal decisions with regard to the child or children. The Parenting Plan allows the parties to identify who is entitled to final decision making authority for educational, religious, extra-curricular and non-emergency medical decisions.

The Parenting Plan also requires the parties to specifically state where the child or children will be for each and every day of the year. The Parenting Plan must state the time and place of each exchange, identify which party will have custody during major holidays, state whether or not the visitation will be supervised, state who is responsible for travel costs associated with visitation, state when the parties can vary the schedule of visitation, and state how and when the party without custody can contact the child or children. The Parenting Plan requires the parties to work together on issues related to the child or children. The Parenting Plan is an attempt to resolve issues about legal custody, physical custody, and visitation time before disputes occur.

The Court must review and approve the Parenting Plan that the parties submit. Even if the parties agree on a visitation schedule, the court may not necessarily approve the schedule. Although it is rare, a court still has the power to reject the Parenting Plan for being unfair, unreasonable or noncompliant with Georgia law. After a court has approved the Parenting Plan, the court may enter an order of contempt of court for a party’s failure to comply with the provisions in the Parenting Plan. For more information on contempt orders, please refer to our page regarding contempt. Parenting Plans can be complicated and complex. We suggest you contact The Law Offices of Betty Nguyen Davis at (404) 593-2620 for a free consultation with an attorney. We can help you with your current Parenting Plan and help determine whether your current visitation schedule should be modified.