Child custody · Augusta · Dublin · Statesboro
Custody is about your child's future. Protect your place in it.
Few things are more frightening than feeling your time with your child slipping away. Maybe the other parent is keeping them from you. Maybe a court date is coming and you do not know what to expect. Maybe you were never married and just learned you may have no legal rights yet. Whatever brought you here, take a breath. In Georgia, custody is decided by what is best for your child, not by who fights hardest, and you do not have to face it alone. Attorney Kelly Brashear Kitchens helps parents across Augusta, Dublin, and Statesboro protect their children and their role in their lives.
What is really at stake
A custody order shapes your child's daily life, and yours.
Where your child wakes up. Who takes them to school. Who decides about their doctor, their faith, their future. How often you get to be their parent, not just their visitor.
These are the things a custody case settles, and once a judge signs the order, changing it later is hard. It takes proof that something important has changed. That is why what happens now matters so much, and why the choices you make in the heat of the moment can follow you for years.
Reacting in anger can hurt the case you are trying to win. Withholding the child, stopping support on your own, moving away without permission, or blowing up over text can all be used against you. Before you do anything, talk to someone who can tell you what helps your case and what quietly damages it.
A steady hand through this
You get someone calm, clear, and on your side.
Custody is frightening because the stakes are your child, not money. You do not need someone who promises to go to war. You need someone steady who knows exactly how Georgia custody cases work and keeps the focus where it belongs, on your child and your relationship with them.
We listen first
We start by understanding your situation, your child, and any order that already exists, before we talk strategy.
We explain it plainly
We tell you how Georgia custody really works and what is likely to happen in your case, in words that make sense.
We protect your role
Whether through agreement, mediation, or court, we work to protect your child's stability and your place in their life.
What to expect
How child custody works in Georgia.
The judge decides what is best for the child
Georgia courts make custody decisions based on what is in the best interests of the child. There is no automatic rule that favors the mother or the father. The judge looks at the whole picture, things like each parent's bond with the child, the stability of each home, who has been doing the day-to-day caregiving, and the child's safety. A nicer house or a bigger paycheck does not win a custody case.
Legal custody and physical custody are different
Legal custody is about who makes the big decisions, things like school, medical care, and religion. Physical custody is about where the child mainly lives and what the schedule looks like. Parents often share legal custody, while one parent has the child most of the time. Every case is different, and there is no single arrangement that fits everyone.
Georgia requires a parenting plan
When custody is decided, Georgia requires a written parenting plan. It spells out the schedule, holidays, who makes which decisions, and how exchanges work. A vague plan creates future fights, so getting it right the first time protects you and your child down the road.
Can a child choose which parent to live with?
This is the question parents ask most, and it is widely misunderstood. The short version: a child's wishes carry more weight as they get older. Once a child turns 14, Georgia gives real weight to the parent they want to live with, and a judge will usually honor that choice unless it would not be good for the child. A younger child, around 11 to 13, can have their wishes heard, but those wishes do not control the outcome. In every case, the judge still decides based on what is best for the child.
If you were never married
Unmarried fathers, this part is important.
This surprises a lot of fathers, so it is worth saying plainly. In Georgia, when parents were never married, the mother has custody by default. Being on the birth certificate is not enough. Paying child support is not enough. Until you take a legal step called legitimation, you may have no right to custody or even visitation, no matter how involved you have been.
Legitimation is what gives an unmarried father a legal relationship with his child for custody and parenting time. It is separate from paternity, which only settles who pays support. If you are an unmarried father, this is often the first thing that needs to happen, and the sooner you understand it, the better. We can walk you through what it takes.
When things change
Changing a custody order that no longer works.
Life does not stop after the order is signed. A parent moves, a job changes, a child's needs shift, or one parent stops following the plan. Georgia lets you ask the court to change a custody order, but generally only when something important has changed since the last order and that change affects the child.
There is a difference between changing an order, enforcing one the other parent is ignoring, and holding someone in contempt for breaking it. They are related but not the same, and which path fits depends on your situation. We can look at your current order and tell you honestly whether a change is worth pursuing.
The attorney in your corner
Why parents trust Kelly with this.
Kelly is a former Augusta prosecutor who tried more than 100 cases before turning her focus to helping families. If your custody case ends up in front of a judge, that courtroom experience matters, you want someone genuinely comfortable there, not learning on your case.
But what parents tell us they remember is that she stayed calm when they could not, kept the focus on their child, and told them the truth even when it was hard to hear. That steadiness is exactly what a custody case needs.
Take the first step
Talk to someone before you make your next move.
You do not have to decide anything today except to get clear on where you stand. One free, confidential conversation tells you what your options are and what to do next, with no pressure and no judgment. Texting is the fastest way to reach us, and we will get right back to you.
P.S. If there is a court date coming or your child's safety is at risk, do not wait. The sooner we understand your situation, the more we can do to help.
Come see us
Three offices across the CSRA.
We help parents throughout Augusta, Dublin, Statesboro and the surrounding area.
Straight answers
Common custody questions.
Your child is worth it
Let's protect what matters most.
Send a text or give us a call, or use our contact page and we will reach out, in confidence.
The information on this page is general and is not legal advice, and contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Custody outcomes depend on the specific facts of your situation and the discretion of the court, and no particular result can be promised. We serve clients throughout Augusta, Dublin, Statesboro and the surrounding CSRA.