Quick answer: Georgia grandparents can ask a Superior Court for visitation under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3, but only by proving with clear and convincing evidence that the child’s health or welfare would be harmed without it and that visitation is in the child’s best interests. A grandparent cannot file a stand-alone case while the parents live together, and may file no more than once every two years. If visitation is granted, it must be at least 24 hours a month. Scot Sikes represents families in grandparent visitation cases in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit.
Parents in Georgia have a constitutional right to decide who spends time with their children, and courts give their decisions real deference. Grandparent visitation exists for the situations where cutting a grandparent off would actually harm the child. That is a high bar, and the statute has specific rules about who can file and when.
Who Can Ask for Visitation
- Grandparents may file an original (stand-alone) action for visitation.
- Grandparents, great-grandparents and siblings, called “family members” in the statute, may intervene in an existing case involving custody, divorce, termination of parental rights, visitation or certain adoptions (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3).
- A grandparent cannot file an original action when the child’s parents are not separated and the child lives with both of them.
Timing Limits
A grandparent may file an original action no more than once in any two-year period, and not during a year in which another custody action concerning the child has been filed. Once visitation is ordered, the parent or custodian may ask to revoke or amend it for good cause, also no more than once every two years. Senate Bill 245, effective July 1, 2025, added a right for a grandparent who was granted visitation after the child’s parent died, became incapacitated or was incarcerated to petition to revoke or amend that order for good cause, also no more than once every two years.
The Harm Standard
The grandparent must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the child’s health or welfare would be harmed without visitation, and that visitation would serve the child’s best interests. Lack of a chance to build a relationship is not harm by itself when no substantial relationship existed. The statute says harm may be found reasonably likely when, before the case was filed:
- The child lived with the grandparent for six months or more
- The grandparent provided basic financial support for at least a year
- There was an established pattern of regular visitation or child care
- Other circumstances show the child is likely to suffer emotional or physical harm
Where a real relationship existed, the court may presume emotional injury if contact is cut off or reduced to a minimum, but the parent can rebut that presumption. The judge must make specific written findings.
How Much Visitation a Court Can Order
If the court grants visitation, the award cannot be less than 24 hours in any one-month period, and it may not interfere with school or regularly scheduled extracurricular activities. The court can also order the custodial parent to tell the grandparent about the child’s public performances. If the grandparent can afford it, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem or send the case to mediation at the grandparent’s expense.
When a Parent Has Died or Is Incarcerated
If the grandparent’s own child (the child’s parent) has died, is incapacitated or is incarcerated, the statute gives that parent’s parents a path to visitation under a similar harm and best-interests standard. These cases often arise in Columbus after a soldier’s death or a long sentence, and they are handled with care because the surviving parent is also grieving.
Adoption and Stepparents
Adoption generally ends the legal relationship with the birth family, but Georgia’s visitation statute still applies in some adoptions, such as adoption by a blood relative or a stepparent. A court may also include grandparent visitation in an adoption decree in limited situations.
Visitation Is Not Custody
A grandparent who is raising the child, or who believes the child is unsafe with the parents, may need a custody case instead. Georgia allows third parties, including grandparents, to seek custody only by showing by clear and convincing evidence that the child would suffer harm in the parent’s custody. See our child custody page.
Practical Advice for Grandparents and Parents
- Grandparents: try mediation or a written agreement first. Keep records of time spent, support given and the child’s routines. File promptly once contact is cut off.
- Parents: you do not have to agree to a schedule you believe is harmful, but a reasonable offer of contact often ends the dispute and looks better to a judge.
Talk With Scot Sikes
Consultations with Scot Sikes are $200 and cover your specific situation, the Georgia law that applies and your realistic options. Call 706-494-6900 or use the contact page. The office is at 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904, about 15 minutes from Fort Benning’s main gate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do grandparents have rights in Georgia?
Grandparents can ask a court for visitation under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3, but they must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the child would be harmed without it and that visitation serves the child’s best interests. Parents’ decisions receive deference.
Can grandparents get visitation if the parents are still married?
Not in a stand-alone case when the parents are not separated and the child lives with both of them. Grandparents can intervene if a divorce or custody case is filed.
How often can grandparents file for visitation in Georgia?
No more than once in any two-year period, and not in a year when another custody action about the child was filed (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3).
What is the minimum grandparent visitation in Georgia?
If the court grants visitation, it must be at least 24 hours in any one-month period, scheduled so it does not interfere with school or regular extracurricular activities.
What changed in Georgia’s grandparent visitation law in 2025?
Senate Bill 245, effective July 1, 2025, amended O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 so a grandparent who received visitation after a parent’s death, incapacity or incarceration may petition to revoke or amend that order for good cause, no more than once every two years. The harm standard did not change.
Can grandparents get custody instead of visitation?
Sometimes. A grandparent may seek custody by proving by clear and convincing evidence that the child would be harmed in the parent’s custody. That is a different case with a different focus than visitation.
More answers: see our Columbus, GA and Fort Benning family law FAQ.
About the author. Scot Sikes founded the Law Offices of Scot Sikes in Columbus, Georgia, in 2006. He earned his J.D. at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1999, and served as an Army judge advocate (trial counsel, Senior Defense Counsel and Deputy Staff Judge Advocate) before retiring from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 2017. His practice centers on family law, military divorce and military family law in the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, and courts have qualified him as an expert witness on dividing military property in divorce. Read Scot Sikes’s full profile. Law Offices of Scot Sikes, 5 Bradley Park Court, Suite 101, Columbus, GA 31904 · 706-494-6900.
Last updated November 2026. Sources: O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 (grandparent and family member visitation); Georgia SB 245 (2025), Act 186, effective July 1, 2025. This page is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice for your situation.