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Parenting plans in Georgia: mandatory, with a feature worth stealing Parenting plans in Georgia: mandatory, with a feature worth stealing

Parenting plans in Georgia: mandatory, with a feature worth stealing

Georgia requires a Parenting Plan in every permanent custody case — agreed or litigated — and Georgia's Plan requirements include something our other states should envy: in joint legal custody arrangements, the Plan must designate an avenue for dispute resolution involving major decisions. This is often done by assigning one parent final decision-making authority (tie-breaker authority). Major decisions are those impacting education, non-emergency healthcare, extracurriculars, and religion. No "we'll figure it out later" in Georgia. Georgia looked at the single biggest generator of post-decree litigation — joint-custody deadlock — and engineered it out at the drafting stage.

What Georgia requires of every plan

Under OCGA § 19-9-1, a Georgia Parenting Plan must recognize the child's need for a close, continuing relationship with both parents. A Plan must specify where the child will be on every day of the year (regular schedule, holidays, breaks, vacations — with times and transportation); allocate decision-making authority and designate an avenue for resolving disputes; and acknowledge that parents make day-to-day decisions for the child during their time. Courts review Plans against the child's best interests and can reject or rewrite what doesn't serve them.

Drafting under Georgia's particular physics

Three Georgia realities should shape every Plan:

  • The 2026 money coupling. Georgia's mandatory parenting-time adjustment now moves child support with parenting time in every case. The schedule is a financial term now — negotiate it knowing both numbers. See child support in Georgia.
  • The approaching election. A child at age fourteen can elect the parent with whom they wish to live. Plans for preteens usually look different than plans for younger children. This should be considered in the drafting, rather than rubber stamping the same Plan for everyone.
  • The two-year tempo. Parenting-time modifications are allowed only once every two years without any showing of changed circumstances. So, a vague Plan can have you feeling trapped for a while. Precision up front is cheaper than having a do-over. Exact times, defined exchanges, holiday priority order, travel and communication protocols, and other terms tailored to your specific circumstances are crucial. When circumstances genuinely outgrow the plan, the paths and standards live at modifications in Georgia. And when the dispute isn't really about the calendar — safety, interference, co-parents at war — that's a different case: high-conflict custody in Georgia.

Drafted like we'll have to enforce it

Brown Carrington prepares Georgia Parenting Plans around the actual consequences that they carry for the family involved. No two Parenting Plans are exactly alike, by design, because no two families' needs are exactly alike.

Straight answers.

Is a Parenting Plan required even in uncontested Georgia cases?

Yes — every permanent custody order needs one and the court must find that it serves the best interests of the child.

How does the tie-breaker actually work?

Even when a parent is assigned final decision-making authority (tie-breaker authority), the parents are still required to consult with one another before any major decision is made. If a mutual consensus cannot be reached, the parent with tie-breaker authority can carry out the decision as he/she deems appropriate. It isn't always all or nothing. Courts will sometimes split domains — one parent education, the other non-emergency healthcare — mapping authority to each parent's strengths.

Can we do a true 50/50 schedule in Georgia?

Yes, by agreement or on evidence — no presumption exists either way.

What's the most common Georgia drafting mistake?

Lack of detail and key terms. You don't know what you don't know. And that's ok because we do. We know what your Parenting Plan needs.

Do both parents have to sign the Georgia parenting plan?

It depends. If the Parenting Plan is agreed, both parents will sign (or their attorneys will sign) to reflect their agreement. When parents can't agree on a Parenting Plan, each parent may submit their proposed Plan and the judge will choose between them or may prepare an entirely separate Plan. The better-drafted, more child-centered proposal wins more often than not.

Can Georgia plans include travel and passport rules?

Yes. And they should. International travel consent, notice parameters, itinerary exchange, and passport sharing are the types of clauses included in well-built Georgia Plans and Atlanta's airport makes them practical rather than theoretical.

What if we want to change the tie-breaker later?

Decision-making reallocations fall under custody modifications — material change plus best interests. Choose tie-breakers for the long run, not the negotiation's last hour.

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