Custody and Parental Rights

In 2025, Georgia passed Senate Bill 245 , now Act 186 , which changes how courts handle existing grandparent visitation orders. The Act lets judges amend or revoke visitation when a parent of the child is deceased, incapacitated, or incarcerated , and it also limits how often these petitions can be filed. It amends O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 and took effect July 1, 2025 . For families we work with, that means a clearer process to ask the court to revisit an old visitation order after a major life change, instead of assuming a prior schedule can never be adjusted. Why This Matters for Atlanta Families For many metro Atlanta families, grandparents are raising the children in the home. Recent reporting based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey estimates that about 93,000 Georgia grandparents are raising nearly 125,000 grandchildren , highlighting how common these “grandfamilies” have become in our state. Because of those realities, those grandparents are most likely to feel the impact of these changes when: A divorce or custody case already includes a grandparent visitation order A parent’s death, serious illness, or incarceration shifts where a child lives DFCS or a dependency case changes who provides daily care SB 245 works within this landscape, on top of O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 , and guides courts when they revisit existing visitation orders as family circumstances change. Quick Background – How Grandparent Visitation Works in Georgia Before SB 245, Georgia already had a specific framework for grandparent visitation in O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 . That statute lets certain relatives, including grandparents, ask a court for visitation if harm is reasonably likely without those visits. Situations mentioned explicitly in O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 include : The child lived with the family member for six months or longer, making that person a consistent part of the child’s daily life. The family member helped provide for the child’s basic needs by offering financial support for at least one year. There was a well-established pattern of regular visitation or hands-on caregiving between the family member and the child. Even if none of those specific situations apply, the court may still act when the evidence shows that denying visitation would likely cause emotional or physical harm to the child. What SB 245 (Act 186) Changed SB 245, known as Act 186 , makes several targeted changes to O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 that apply statewide, including metro Atlanta, beginning July 1, 2025 . In plain terms, it focuses on existing grandparent visitation orders and what happens when a parent’s situation changes in serious ways. Here are the key points you should know: It clarifies who can seek changes. The Act expressly includes grandparents within the group of people who may ask the court to revoke or amend an existing grandparent visitation order , instead of limiting that power to others involved in the original case. It ties modifications to major changes in a parent’s status. SB 245 allows the court to look at changing a visitation order when the parent of the child is: Deceased Incapacitated Incarcerated These are the kinds of events that often change where a child lives and which adults are providing day-to-day care. It limits how often new petitions can be filed. To reduce repeated litigation, the Act provides that a petition to revoke or amend grandparent visitation on these grounds cannot be filed more than once in a two-year period . That protects children from being pulled into court over and over about the same issue. It still requires a best-interest analysis. Even with SB 245 in place, the court still has to consider the child’s best interests and the potential for harm if visitation is denied or expanded. The amendments do not remove judicial discretion; they just tell the court when and how it may reconsider an existing order. For you, this means that if your family already has a court-ordered grandparent visitation schedule, and a parent later dies, becomes incapacitated, or is incarcerated, the law now gives a clearer, time-limited path to ask the court to revisit that order. Talk With an Atlanta Family Law Attorney About SB 245 Grandparent visitation cases already sit at the intersection of grief, loyalty, and legal rights. SB 245 adds another layer by telling courts when they can revisit an existing order after a parent’s death, incapacity, or incarceration and how often families are allowed to come back to court about it. If you’re worried about how this new law could affect your family, the safest next step is to speak with a Georgia family law attorney who handles grandparent visitation and custody cases. An attorney can help you: Read your current court order in light of SB 245 Decide whether your situation fits the new categories the law addresses Weigh the pros and cons of filing now versus waiting, given the two-year filing limit That way, any decision you make about revisiting grandparent visitation is grounded in both the statute and what is realistically best for your child.

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