Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 19. DOMESTIC RELATIONS · Chapter 9. CHILD CUSTODY PROCEEDINGS · Article 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

19-9-2. Right of surviving parent to custody of child; discretion of judge.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Upon the death of either parent, the survivor is entitled to custody of the child; provided, however, that the judge, upon petition:
(1)
May exercise discretion as to the custody of the child, looking solely to the child’s best interest and welfare; and#
(2)
In the case of a surviving parent being criminally indicted for the offense of murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent, can proceed in the court’s discretion.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Orig. Code 1863, § 1745; Code 1868, § 1785; Code 1873, § 1794; Code 1882, § 1794; Civil Code 1895, § 2503; Civil Code 1910, § 3022; Code 1933, § 74-106; Ga. L. 1979, p. 466, § 42; Ga. L. 1996, p. 412, § 2; Ga. L. 2007, p. 554, § 5/HB 369; Ga. L. 2023, p. 367, § 4/SB 131, effective July 1, 2023.

Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, rewrote this Code section, which read: “Upon the death of either parent, the survivor is entitled to custody of the child; provided, however, that the judge, upon petition, may exercise discretion as to the custody of the child, looking solely to the child’s best interest and welfare.”

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t18-t19-(v16)-pdf.pdf, Volume V16, 2022 edition, 2025 supplement, page 247; merge action: replaced; file SHA-256 3b0e2669853a.

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