When you are part of a same-sex couple in Georgia and the two of you decide to parent a child together, you may face custody-related hardships if you split up and you and the child do not share the same DNA. However, many Georgia residents facing similar circumstances are finding that the state’s Equitable Caregiver law gives them a means through which to seek legal custody over their children.
Enacted July 1, 2019, the Equitable Caregiver law dictates that you may be an equitable caregiver if you do not share biology with a child, but play a major, fundamental role as a caregiver in that child’s life.
What the Equitable Caregiver Law Does
If in the eyes of the law, you are an equitable caregiver, this means you may move forward with pursuing visitation or custody rights. It also extends you protections in that it states that judges may not take your child away from you strictly on the basis of you and your son or daughter not sharing biology.
What the Equitable Caregiver Law Does Not Do
Georgia’s Equitable Caregiver law does not take away rights from an otherwise fit biological parent. Instead, it gives you and others who have existing and established relationships with children you helped raise grounds for a court case and the same opportunity to seek custody and visitation that it would a biological parent.
Georgia judges consider the best interests of your child before deciding whether to grant you Equitable Caregiver status and visitation or custody rights.