Legitimation

In Georgia, when a child is born out of wedlock, the mother has exclusive custody rights. This is why legitimation is critically important for fathers. Prior to legitimation, the mother is entitled to custody of the child, exclusive of the father, and she may exercise all parental authority concerning decisions affecting the child. Essentially, before a father legitimates his child, he has no legally recognized relationship with the child, and he may not legally make decisions on behalf of the child, obtain custody or exercise visitation.

If you are a father seeking to legally establish your relationship with your child or children, it is important that you do so in a timely manner. If you delay in legitimating your child or children and a court subsequently determines that this delay was unreasonable, the court may find that that you have abandoned your opportunity to develop a relationship with your child. If a court makes this finding, it may deny your petition for legitimation. In some circumstances, a delay of over a year could be deemed by a court as unreasonable.