united-states minor divorce family-law georgia
Divorce case with split custody: Age of child when he/she can be moved out of of state without consent of other parent
<p>This question is about the case of relocating from one U.S. state (Georgia) to another (Florida) for employment reasons in a situation where</p>

<ul>
<li>The person relocating is a divorcee (a single parent mom).</li>
<li>The divorce case was initiated and has been handled in the court in
Georgia. The settlement (back in 2005) was a split custody where the father has been obligated to pay a small amount of child support each month.</li>
</ul>

<p>In this case the divorcee would prefer to relocate with the child; the child is currently 12 but it is not clear on whether the child wants to stay with the mom or with the dad (who remarried a couple of years ago).</p>

<p>The question stems from the split custody as that would make it difficult for the mom to live in south Florida.</p>

<p>The question is, is there a minimum age at which point the child can decide which parent he or she stays with?</p>

<p>Note that I am not a lawyer. All law code here is from the official Georgia Law at <a href="http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/Default.asp" rel="nofollow">LexisNexis</a>.</p>

<p>In the case of Georgia, the law regarding a child’s election changed in 2008. Prior to 2008, a 14 year old child could choose with which parent to live, unless the judge determined that the chosen parent is unfit.</p>

<p>As proving that a parent is unfit was not always easy, the Georgia General Assembly in 2008 replaced the unfit parent standard with a Best Interests of the Child Standard. This new standard provides more flexibility to the judge in determining custody.</p>

<p>Some basic facts about how the law in relation to the child's selection of parent:</p>

<ul>
<li>A parent that wishes to modify an existing custody arrangement must
show that a <code>material change</code> in circumstances has occurred that
warrants a new decision by the court.</li>
<li>If the child is 14 then the child's desire to select the parent may
be considered as the "material change in circumstances".</li>
<li>However the court will only consider the child's choice if at least
two years have passed since the last custody determination.</li>
</ul>

<p>These aspects of the law can be seen in Georgia statute 19-9-3, article 5, which states: </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(5) <strong>In all custody cases in which the child has reached the age of</strong>
  <strong>14 years</strong>, the child shall have the right to select the parent with
  whom he or she desires to live. <strong>The child's selection for purposes of</strong>
  <strong>custody shall be presumptive</strong> unless the parent so selected is
  determined not to be in the best interests of the child. The parental
  selection by a child who has reached the age of 14 may, in and of
  itself, constitute a material change of condition or circumstance in
  any action seeking a modification or change in the custody of that
  child; provided, however, that such selection may only be made once
  within a period of two years from the date of the previous selection
  and the best interests of the child standard shall apply.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Note that</strong> the expression "The child's selection for purposes of custody shall be presumptive unless..." is the same as saying that "the child's selection shall be controlling (the decision) unless...".</p>

<p>As to children that are between 11 and 14 the law states as follows (Georgia statute 19-9-3, article 6)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(6) <strong>In all custody cases in which the child has reached the age of</strong>
  <strong>11 but not 14 years</strong>, the judge shall consider the desires and
  educational needs of the child in determining which parent shall have
  custody. The judge shall have complete discretion in making this
  determination, and <strong>the child's desires shall not be controlling</strong>. The
  judge shall further have broad discretion as to how the child's
  desires are to be considered, including through the report of a
  guardian ad litem. The best interests of the child standard shall be
  controlling. The parental selection of a child who has reached the age
  of 11 but not 14 years shall not, in and of itself, constitute a
  material change of condition or circumstance in any action seeking a
  modification or change in the custody of that child. The judge may
  issue an order granting temporary custody to the selected parent for a
  trial period not to exceed six months regarding the custody of a child
  who has reached the age of 11 but not 14 years where the judge hearing
  the case determines such a temporary order is appropriate.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>(Note that a "guardian ad litem" is the same as a "legal guardian".)</p>

<p>If the child is younger than 11, there is no expectation for the judge to consider the child’s preference when awarding custody.</p>

<p>Besides the desire of the child, the judge may consider following factors listed under Georgia statute 19-9-3, article 3:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(3) In determining the best interests of the child, the judge may
  consider any relevant factor including, but not limited to:</p>
  
  <p>(A) The love, affection, bonding, and emotional ties existing
  between each parent and the child;</p>
  
  <p>(B) The love, affection, bonding, and emotional ties existing
  between the child and his or her siblings, half siblings, and
  stepsiblings and the residence of such other children;</p>
  
  <p>(C) The capacity and disposition of each parent to give the child
  love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education and
  rearing of the child;</p>
  
  <p>(D) Each parent's knowledge and familiarity of the child and the
  child's needs;</p>
  
  <p>(E) The capacity and disposition of each parent to provide the child
  with food, clothing, medical care, day-to-day needs, and other
  necessary basic care, with consideration made for the potential
  payment of child support by the other parent;</p>
  
  <p>(F) The home environment of each parent considering the promotion of
  nurturance and safety of the child rather than superficial or material
  factors;</p>
  
  <p>(G) The importance of continuity in the child's life and the length
  of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and
  the desirability of maintaining continuity;</p>
  
  <p>(H) The stability of the family unit of each of the parents and the
  presence or absence of each parent's support systems within the
  community to benefit the child;</p>
  
  <p>(I) The mental and physical health of each parent;</p>
  
  <p>(J) Each parent's involvement, or lack thereof, in the child's
  educational, social, and extracurricular activities;</p>
  
  <p>(K) Each parent's employment schedule and the related flexibility or
  limitations, if any, of a parent to care for the child;</p>
  
  <p>(L) The home, school, and community record and history of the child,
  as well as any health or educational special needs of the child;</p>
  
  <p>(M) Each parent's past performance and relative abilities for future
  performance of parenting responsibilities;</p>
  
  <p>(N) The willingness and ability of each of the parents to facilitate
  and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between
  the child and the other parent, consistent with the best interest of
  the child;</p>
  
  <p>(O) Any recommendation by a court appointed custody evaluator or
  guardian ad litem;</p>
  
  <p>(P) Any evidence of family violence or sexual, mental, or physical
  child abuse or criminal history of either parent; and</p>
  
  <p>(Q) Any evidence of substance abuse by either parent.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Each state has its own criteria (tender age is usually under 4 -you can find case law that has general criteria of different ages) and so on - </p>

<p>When a child is 12 one can bring in an expert - interview the child then determine the level of the child's understanding - gets to a case by case basis and not much insight of a general nature of a question like this </p>

<p>In other words, depending on which direction you want to go -keep child in present status or change would be controlled on the expert's view of the child's understanding - the social dynamics, if the move would affect child positive or negative - plus, original decree -  in other words, this is a question that rest in two areas 1. State's case law of general view of a 12 year old and 2. the particular facts of the case - so, given 12 years, each case varies you can't really get a proper answer - short of slight insight reading the state's case law-   which most likely would rest a lot on the changing of status is good or bad - better environment and that kind of data - each case is different and it will sit via the old "based on the particular facts of this case..." determination </p>
