O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A. § 19-7-25 (2019)
In whom parental power over child born out of wedlock lies.
✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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Only the mother of a child born out of wedlock is entitled to custody of the child, unless the father legitimates the child as provided in Code Section 19-7-22. Otherwise, the mother may exercise all parental power over the child.
History
(Orig. Code 1863, § 1750; Code 1868, § 1790; Code 1873, § 1799; Code 1882, § 1799; Civil Code 1895, § 2509; Civil Code 1910, § 3028; Code 1933, § 74-203; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1720, § 8; Ga. L. 2008, p. 667, § 5/SB 88; Ga. L. 2016, p. 304, § 4/SB 64.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 41
cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1985–2026 · leading case: Caldwell v. Meadows.
Caldwell v. Meadows (Ga. Ct. App. 2011). “OCGA § 19-7-25 provides that “[o]nly the mother of a child born out of wedlock is entitled to custody of the child, unless the father legitimates the child as provided in Code Section 19-7-21.1 or 19-7-22. Otherwise, the mother may exercise all parental power over the child.”
Pruitt v. Lindsey (Ga. 1991). “" OCGA § 19-7-25. Under the current legislative scheme, if a father wants to gain the right to custody or visitation, he must take the steps required by OCGA § 19-7-22 to "legitimate the child," or, more correctly, to legitimate the relationship between himself and the child.”
Gregg v. Barnes (Ga. Ct. App. 1992). “She also filed a motion to dismiss the complaint asserting that there was no marriage, the child was illegitimate, and she was entitled to custody under OCGA § 19-7-25. At 1:30 p.m. on August 27, 1990, the date of the scheduled hearing, Barnes filed an “amendment” to his…”
Nicole Maddox v. Babette Stephens (11th Cir. 2013). “prior to court proceedings on February 12, 2009, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 19-7-25 (“Only the mother of a child born out of wedlock is entitled to custody of the child, unless the father legitimates the child.”
O'NEAL v. Wilkes (Ga. 1994). “276 (mother alone may contract for adoption where the father has lost parental control or abandoned the child); OCGA § 19-7-25, Code 1933, § 74-203 (only mother of child born out of wedlock may exercise parental power over the child unless legitimized by the father); see also…”
In the Interest of V. M. T. (Ga. Ct. App. 2000). “8 Indeed, under OCGA § 19-7-25, until an unwed father legitimates his child, the mother retains all parental control over that child.”
Baskin v. Hale (Ga. Ct. App. 2016). “OCGA § 19-7-25. See also Veal v. Veal, 281 Ga.”
Slay v. Calhoun (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). “’s only legal custodian until an order of legitimation was entered and that K.”
Noggle v. Arnold (Ga. Ct. App. 1985). “The appellee, who has no standing in the legitimation case, confirms the father's recitation of what happened below.”
Veal v. Veal (Ga. 2006). “, we conclude that the trial court erred by awarding him custody of the child.”
Bowers v. Pearson (Ga. Ct. App. 2005). “18 See OCGA § 19-7-25. 19 See Coxwell v. Matthews, 263 Ga.”
Ganny v. Ganny (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). “Veronica contends the trial court erred in addressing the issue of custody.”
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