Atlanta, Georgia Child Custody Attorneys
Atlanta child custody attorneys prioritize the best interests of children during divorce. They guide clients through legal and physical custody issues, advocate for stable, safe homes, and work closely with court-appointed neutral experts, such as Guardian ad Litems, to ensure outcomes focus on the child’s well-being and long-term stability.
If there is one thing we hold to be an absolute inviolable belief, it is that the kids should be the absolute top priority in a divorce. The kids come first, period. We take pains to ensure that our clients’ children end up in the best possible situations once the proceedings are over.
Why Do I Need a Child Custody Attorney?
When we talk about child custody and child support matters, we are discussing the one area where you are not partnering with an attorney to protect you – you are partnering with an attorney to protect your children.
Custody disputes can very quickly become intense emotional battles. Formerly smooth divorce proceedings can go completely off the rails when the future care of the couple’s children comes into play, and otherwise reasonable couples can become angry, bitter, and unyielding.
Your Atlanta-based child custody attorney at Rubin Family Law is here to stop that happening. With our deep experience in custody cases, we help our clients put the bitterness aside and remember who is important in this process – the children.
If things progress to the courtroom, we argue fiercely on behalf of our client, but always with an eye towards what is best for the children. It may sound cliched, but after the dust settles, the only thing any party to a divorce wants is for their children to be able to emerge from the process with a loving, safe, and caring home and a stable environment.
Protect your parental rights.
Contact Rubin Family Law today.
Why Choose a Rubin Family Law Child Custody Attorney?
We Put the Children First
We keep saying that because it is so very important. When you are choosing a child support attorney, you may be tempted to find a highly aggressive Atlanta attorney who says they will do what it takes to win you full custody. But is that what is right for the kids?
Our goal is not to win you full custody, unless that is what the situation demands. Our goal is to ensure that the custody negotiations (and, if necessary, litigation) do not put your children in the middle of a vitriolic battle royale and that your and your spouse’s individual desires do not drown out your kids’ need for stability and safety.
We Understand the Role of a Custody Focused Expert
In child custody cases, the courts will often appoint a custody-focused expert, which can be a guardian ad litem or custody evaluator. A guardian ad litem serves as the representative of the children’s best interests during the proceedings, making sure that the parents’ disputes do not negatively impact the outcome for the kids.
Our team includes specially-trained guardians ad litem, and our entire staff understands the importance of that role in a contentious divorce. While it is unlikely that a member of our team will be appointed as a guardian ad litem in your specific case, our experience in this area means that We are better able to work with your children’s guardian ad litem to work towards the best possible results.
We Help You Understand What is Happening
Like any issue with two sides, things in a custody dispute may not always go the way you hope. No matter what happens, we are there with you, helping you understand what is happening in your custody case and giving you careful, honest evaluations of the possible outcomes.
We do not deal in false hope. We help manage your expectations throughout the custody proceedings and make sure that you have complete clarity. We help you see how the court’s “final” judgement is not always final, but that changes in your life or your ex-spouse’s life may open up opportunities to revisit the custody arrangement and possibly allow for a future modification of the court’s order.
We make your child’s needs the priority.
An Atlanta, Georgia Child Custody Attorney Talks Through the Custody Process
The Types of Custody
When a couple is negotiating or a court is deciding on the custody agreement between divorcing spouses, there are two separate types of custody discussed:
Legal custody refers to access to a child’s medical, school, and other important information and documentation, as well as determining which parent will make major final decisions about the child’s future in the event of a dispute between the parents related to non-emergency healthcare, education, extracurricular activities, and religious upbringing.
Physical custody refers to determining the child’s living arrangements during the school year, holidays and school breaks, and summer break vacation.
At the end of the process, both legal and physical custody can be allocated to only one parent or shared by both.
In cases where custody is shared, the court may decide how the children’s time will be divided and who will be responsible for making the final decision on major issues impacting the children, such as education and healthcare. Alternatively, the parents may be able to negotiate an agreement that is amenable to them, their kids, and the court.
The Court Has the Final Say
The main difference between custody matters and the other issues at play in a divorce is that in Atlanta and elsewhere in Georgia, even if both parents come to an agreement about custody matters, the court will likely still be involved. For other issues in a divorce, the courts will almost always accept a negotiated agreement without making any significant changes to the couple’s agreed settlement.
In custody issues, however, Georgia courts take their role as protector of a couple’s children seriously. In most custody cases, a judge will review a settled agreement presented by the parents, but will ultimately rule in the way that they believe is in the best interest for a child. If evidence suggests that a shared physical custody agreement would not be conducive to a child’s growth, development, and happiness – no matter how badly the parents want it – they may grant one parent or the other sole custody.
You take care of your children.
Let us handle the negotiations.
Rubin Family Law
Practice Areas
Personalized, Effective Representation
Across The Metro Area
Our offices are located near the Cumberland Interchange, not far from Truist Park. We serve clients across the Metro Area, including:
- Alpharetta, Georgia
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Brookhaven, Georgia
- Buckhead, Georgia
- Cumming, Georgia
- Decatur, Georgia
- Duluth, Georgia
- Dunwoody, Georgia
- Johns Creek, Georgia
- Kennesaw, Georgia
- Marietta, Georgia
- Milton, Georgia
- Roswell, Georgia
- Sandy Springs, Georgia
- Smyrna, Georgia
- Woodstock, Georgia