How to Modify Child Custody in Georgia
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Georgia · Last updated October 7, 2026
A child who has reached 14 in Georgia may pick the parent to live with, and that pick can by itself be the reason a judge reopens custody. Modifying child custody here means asking a superior court to change an existing custody or parenting time order because conditions have materially changed since that order was entered. Georgia puts no waiting period on that request. O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(b) preserves the judge's power to enter a custody judgment in any new proceeding based upon a showing of a change in any material conditions or circumstances of a party or the child, with no interval attached. The two year figure parents hear quoted sits somewhere else entirely. It caps how often the visitation and parenting time part of a judgment may be reviewed with no showing of change at all, which is not more often than once in each two year period. A second two year clock limits a child's repeat election. Procedure here is unusual. Under O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a) you start a complaint, not a motion in the closed file, and the clerk opens a new case number for it. The statewide cost is $58.00 under O.C.G.A. 15-6-77(e)(2), which names modifications on closed civil cases in terms. O.C.G.A. 19-9-1(a) makes a parenting plan mandatory in every modification action. If either parent is moving, O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(f)(3) wants notification to the other parent at least 30 days ahead with the full new address, and Georgia attaches no mileage figure to that duty. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Georgia
What is prompting the change to your custody order?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
What does a Georgia parent file to change an existing custody order?
A complaint seeking a change of legal or physical custody, initiated under O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a) rather than filed as a motion inside the closed case. The superior court clerk gives it a new case number. O.C.G.A. 19-9-1(a) requires a parenting plan in every modification action.
Does Georgia make a parent wait before asking to change custody?
No. Nothing in O.C.G.A. 19-9-3 delays a complaint built on a change in material conditions or circumstances. The two year period in subsection (b) limits only how often the visitation and parenting time terms may be reviewed with no showing of change at all.
What does Georgia require of a parent who is changing residence?
O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(f)(3) requires notification to the other parent at least 30 days before the anticipated change of residence, including the full address of the new residence. The subsection sets no mileage or state line trigger, and it yields where a court order provides otherwise.
Can a 14 year old in Georgia choose which parent to live with?
O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5) gives a child who has reached 14 the right to select. The selection is presumptive unless the selected parent is determined not to be in the child's best interests, and it may be made only once within two years of the previous selection.
Georgia custody modification at a glance
Changing child custody in Georgia means asking a superior court to change an existing custody or parenting time order because conditions have materially changed since that order was entered. Georgia imposes no waiting period on that complaint. The distinctive feature is that Georgia hands real leverage to the child: under O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5) a child who has reached 14 may select the parent to live with, the selection is presumptive unless the chosen parent is found not to be in the child's best interests, and the selection may in and of itself constitute a material change of condition. A child who has reached 11 but not 14 is treated oppositely by O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(6): those desires are considered, are not controlling, and expressly cannot be the material change on their own.
A Georgia 14th birthday reopens a five year old order
Imagine a Georgia custody judgment entered five years ago that names the mother as the child's primary custodian. The child turns 14 in March and tells the father he wants to live with him. Under O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5) that selection is presumptive and may in and of itself constitute a material change of condition, so the father does not need a separate crisis to justify filing. He starts a complaint under O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a), confirms the venue county with the clerk, files a proposed parenting plan under O.C.G.A. 19-9-1(a), pays $58.00, and serves the mother. The judge still measures the choice against the child's best interests. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
Relevant Laws
O.C.G.A. 19-9-3 (establishment and review of child custody and visitation)
Carries Georgia's material change standard in subsection (b), the once in each two year cap on reviewing visitation and parenting time without any showing of change, the age 14 election and the age 11 to 13 rule in (a)(5) and (a)(6), and the 30 day residence change notification in (f)(3).
O.C.G.A. 19-9-23 (actions to obtain change of legal or physical custody)
Requires a change of custody to be initiated as a complaint under the constitutional venue rule, bars raising it in response to a habeas petition or an enforcement or contempt motion, and since the 2019 rewrite permits a counterclaim for modification against a modification complaint.
O.C.G.A. 19-9-1 (parenting plans)
Makes a parenting plan mandatory for permanent custody and modification actions, requires the final order to incorporate a permanent plan, and sets out what the plan must cover, including where the child is each day of the year and how decision making is allocated.
O.C.G.A. 19-9-1.2 (required domestic relations case filing information form)
Requires the plaintiff in any proceeding under the custody article to file a domestic relations case filing information form prescribed by the Judicial Council of Georgia. A companion duty in 19-9-3(h) requires a final disposition form at the conclusion of the case.
O.C.G.A. 15-6-77 (superior court clerk fees)
Sets $58.00 in subsection (e)(2) for all services rendered by the superior court clerk through entry of judgment in civil cases, defines civil cases in (e)(1) to include modifications on closed civil cases, and allows an indigence affidavit in place of payment.
Regional Variances
Georgia custody modification levers at a glance
Waiting period before you may file
None. No Georgia statute delays a complaint resting on a change in material conditions or circumstances. O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(b) expressly preserves the judge's power to enter a custody judgment in any new proceeding on that showing, with no interval attached and no heightened endangerment alternative keyed to elapsed time.
What the two year figure actually limits
Frequency, not access. Under O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(b) the visitation and parenting time portion of a judgment may be reviewed without any showing of change, but not more often than once in each two year period following entry of the judgment. A separate two year limit in (a)(5) governs repeat child elections.
Standard to change an order
A change in any material conditions or circumstances of a party or the child, measured against the child's best interests. The same subsection carves out military deployment, saying a military parent's absences caused by deployment, or the potential for future deployments, shall not be the sole factor supporting a claimed change.
Relocation notice
At least 30 days before the anticipated change of residence, with the full address of the new residence, under O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(f)(3). The duty runs to whichever parent is moving. There is no mileage trigger, no state line test, no duration test, no consent requirement and no statutory objection deadline.
Court and vehicle
Superior court, started as a complaint under O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a) and opened under a new case number, not as a motion in the closed file. That section was rewritten effective July 1, 2019, and it now points to the general civil venue rule in the Georgia Constitution instead of naming a county.
Forms
No statewide complaint or petition form for a custody modification. Two Judicial Council of Georgia forms are required by statute in the case itself: a domestic relations case filing information form at filing under O.C.G.A. 19-9-1.2, and a domestic relations final disposition form at the conclusion under 19-9-3(h).
Filing fee
$58.00 statewide under O.C.G.A. 15-6-77(e)(2) for all clerk services through entry of judgment, with modifications on closed civil cases named in the (e)(1) definition. That sum is exclusive of service of process costs. A party unable to pay because of indigence may file an affidavit instead.
Procedural screen
No affidavit gate and no adequate cause hearing screen. The restriction Georgia imposes is on the vehicle: O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(b) and (c) bar a change of custody raised in response to a habeas petition or an enforcement or contempt motion, and bar a complaint in the nature of habeas corpus seeking a custody change.
Child's wishes
Age 14 under O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(a)(5). What it triggers is a presumptive selection that may in and of itself constitute a material change of condition, defeated by a finding that the selected parent is not in the child's best interests, and usable only once within two years of the previous selection.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Date the material change, or the child's election
Before you file days after startingWrite down what changed in the conditions or circumstances of a party or the child since the judgment, with dates and documents. If your child has reached 14, record when the selection was made and whether any earlier selection fell within the preceding two years.
Re-read the move terms in your own order
Before any planned change of residence days after startingO.C.G.A. 19-9-3(f)(3) opens with an exception for a court order providing otherwise, so your judgment can set different terms. Find the wording, then diary the date 30 days before your intended move so the notification with the full new address goes out on time.
Confirm the superior court county with the clerk
Before drafting the complaint days after startingO.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a) points to the general civil venue rule in the Georgia Constitution rather than naming a county, and the section was rewritten effective July 1, 2019. Ask the clerk which county is correct for your facts rather than relying on older published guidance.
Draft the complaint for modification
As soon as your evidence is assembled days after startingGeorgia prescribes no statewide form for this filing, so the complaint is drafted. Plead the existing judgment, the change in material conditions or circumstances, and the custody or parenting time terms you want. Keep it separate from any enforcement or contempt filing.
Prepare the parenting plan and the filing information form
With the complaint days after startingO.C.G.A. 19-9-1(a) requires a parenting plan in a modification action, covering where the child is each day of the year, holidays, transportation and decision making. O.C.G.A. 19-9-1.2 requires the Judicial Council domestic relations case filing information form from the plaintiff.
File with the superior court clerk and pay $58.00
When the papers are complete days after startingO.C.G.A. 15-6-77(e)(2) sets $58.00 for all clerk services through entry of judgment, exclusive of service costs. If you cannot pay because of indigence, file the affidavit the statute allows. Expect the clerk to open the matter under a new case number.
Serve the other parent and keep following the current order
Immediately after filing days after startingHave the complaint served and file the return. Until a judge signs a new order, the existing one still binds you, and departing from it is an enforcement problem rather than a modification. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date the material change, or the child's election | Write down what changed in the conditions or circumstances of a party or the child since the judgment, with dates and documents. If your child has reached 14, record when the selection was made and whether any earlier selection fell within the preceding two years. | - | Before you file |
| Re-read the move terms in your own order | O.C.G.A. 19-9-3(f)(3) opens with an exception for a court order providing otherwise, so your judgment can set different terms. Find the wording, then diary the date 30 days before your intended move so the notification with the full new address goes out on time. | - | Before any planned change of residence |
| Confirm the superior court county with the clerk | O.C.G.A. 19-9-23(a) points to the general civil venue rule in the Georgia Constitution rather than naming a county, and the section was rewritten effective July 1, 2019. Ask the clerk which county is correct for your facts rather than relying on older published guidance. | - | Before drafting the complaint |
| Draft the complaint for modification | Georgia prescribes no statewide form for this filing, so the complaint is drafted. Plead the existing judgment, the change in material conditions or circumstances, and the custody or parenting time terms you want. Keep it separate from any enforcement or contempt filing. | - | As soon as your evidence is assembled |
| Prepare the parenting plan and the filing information form | O.C.G.A. 19-9-1(a) requires a parenting plan in a modification action, covering where the child is each day of the year, holidays, transportation and decision making. O.C.G.A. 19-9-1.2 requires the Judicial Council domestic relations case filing information form from the plaintiff. | - | With the complaint |
| File with the superior court clerk and pay $58.00 | O.C.G.A. 15-6-77(e)(2) sets $58.00 for all clerk services through entry of judgment, exclusive of service costs. If you cannot pay because of indigence, file the affidavit the statute allows. Expect the clerk to open the matter under a new case number. | - | When the papers are complete |
| Serve the other parent and keep following the current order | Have the complaint served and file the return. Until a judge signs a new order, the existing one still binds you, and departing from it is an enforcement problem rather than a modification. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft. | - | Immediately after filing |
Frequently Asked Questions
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