Joint Legal Custody
What is Joint Legal Custody?
Joint
legal custody is the most common legal custody arrangement in Georgia. It means that both parents are supposed to share
decision-making authority for major decisions regarding their children.
Georgia Law Requires a Final Decision Maker for Joint Legal Custody
Although
Georgia law favors joint legal decision-making; Georgia law recognizes that
there will be times where both parents disagree about the best course of action. Accordingly, Georgia requires that, even with
joint legal custody, there must be a final decision maker for the significant legal
decision-making areas related to a child.
Major areas of legal decision-making
The four legal decision-making areas related to a child are education, health, extracurricular activities, and religion.
Can Final Decision Making Authority for Legal Decisions be Split between the Parents?
Yes,
the four primary areas of legal decision-making are often split between the
parents based upon what is in the child's best interest. For example, if one parent is a doctor, a judge might be more likely to allow that parent to have final decision-making authority for legal
decisions related to a child's non-emergency medical care.