If the other parent is blocking your court-ordered parenting time, you can file a motion for contempt of court for child visitation in Georgia with the superior court that issued your custody order. The judge can order make-up time, impose fines up to $1,000, jail the other parent for up to 20 days, and shift your attorney fees onto them.1Justia. Georgia Code 15-6-8 – Jurisdiction and Powers of Superior Courts Winning requires a specific order, documented violations, and proof that the other parent chose not to comply.
Before You File, Check Your Order
A judge cannot hold someone in contempt for violating a vague arrangement. If your visitation schedule is a handshake deal, a loosely worded paragraph, or anything short of specific days, times, and exchange locations, the other parent can argue they did not understand what was required, and the court may agree. Pull your signed order and read it the way a stranger would. If the terms are not concrete enough to point to a particular violation on a particular date, you likely need to seek a modification before contempt is a realistic option.
You will also need a certified copy of that order from the clerk’s office. It is the foundation of your motion. Every allegation you make has to tie back to a specific provision the other parent violated.
What You Have to Prove
Three elements decide a visitation contempt case. The other parent knew about the order, had the ability to comply with it, and willfully refused to do so.2Justia. Georgia Code 15-1-4 – Extent of Contempt Power The burden is on you as the moving parent, and the standard is clear and convincing evidence, which is higher than the preponderance standard used in most civil disputes.
One missed exchange with a legitimate excuse will not get you there. A child’s hospitalization, a car that broke down, a genuine scheduling confusion — judges weigh those explanations seriously. What meets the standard is a pattern: repeated refusals to hand the child over, invented excuses, leaving town during your weekend, not answering the door at pickup time. The more incidents you document, the harder it becomes for the other parent to characterize any of them as accidental.
Gathering Your Evidence
Contempt cases are won on documentation, not frustration. Keep a log of every missed or denied exchange with the date, scheduled time, pickup location, and what actually happened. “She did not show up” is weak. “I arrived at the McDonald’s on Peachtree at 6:00 p.m. on March 14 as specified in paragraph 3(b) of the order, waited until 6:45, and she did not appear or respond to calls” is the kind of specificity judges want to see.
Save every text, email, and voicemail where the other parent cancels, refuses, or ignores your attempts to arrange an exchange. Co-parenting communication apps strengthen a case because they generate timestamped records nobody can edit after the fact. If you are already using one, those logs come into the hearing as organized evidence. If you are not, switching now at least creates a clean record going forward.
Preparing the Motion
The paperwork is typically called a Motion for Contempt, though some counties label it a Petition for Citation of Contempt. You file it in the superior court of the county that issued your original custody order. Along with the motion itself, you file a Verification form, which must be notarized because you are swearing under oath that the facts in the motion are true. Both forms are available from the Clerk of the Superior Court.3Forsyth County Clerk of Superior Court. Instructions on Filing a Motion for Contempt
The motion itself has to describe each specific act of non-compliance and tie it to the provision of the order that was violated. Vague allegations get vague results. Walk the reader of your motion — meaning the judge — through each incident the same way you logged it.
Filing Fees and Serving the Other Parent
File the motion with the Clerk of the Superior Court and pay the filing fee. In several Georgia counties, the fee for a visitation contempt action runs around $58, but it varies by county, so confirm with your local clerk.3Forsyth County Clerk of Superior Court. Instructions on Filing a Motion for Contempt Fee waivers are often available for contempt actions based on unpaid child support or alimony, but visitation contempt does not qualify.
After filing, the other parent has to be formally served under Georgia’s rules of civil procedure. Service can be handled by the county sheriff, a deputy, or a certified private process server.4Justia. Georgia Code 9-11-4 – Process Sheriff’s offices in Georgia typically charge around $50 for civil process service. The server files an affidavit of service with the court proving the other parent received notice. The judge cannot proceed without that proof, so move on service promptly.
Once service is confirmed, the court schedules a hearing, usually within 30 to 60 days.
What Happens at the Hearing
Contempt hearings in Georgia superior court are bench trials. The judge decides, not a jury. You present your case first. Walk through each violation: point to the order provision, explain what was supposed to happen, then put in the evidence of what actually happened. Bring your original documents, not summaries. Judges want to see the text messages, the call logs, the timestamps.
The other parent then responds and presents their own evidence. The judge may question both parties directly. If the court finds contempt by clear and convincing evidence, it moves straight to sanctions. The judge will usually give the offending parent a chance to purge the contempt by committing to specific corrective actions before imposing harsher penalties. If you have an attorney, the judge may hear argument on fees at this stage as well.
Penalties the Judge Can Impose
Georgia superior courts have a range of tools for visitation contempt:
- Make-up parenting time, which is the most common remedy and compensates for the time that was wrongfully denied.
- Fines of up to $1,000 per contempt finding.1Justia. Georgia Code 15-6-8 – Jurisdiction and Powers of Superior Courts
- Jail time up to 20 days per contempt finding. In civil contempt the sentence is conditional and the parent can end it by agreeing to comply; in criminal contempt it is fixed.1Justia. Georgia Code 15-6-8 – Jurisdiction and Powers of Superior Courts
- Attorney fees and court costs. Georgia law gives judges discretion to award fees in contempt proceedings involving child visitation, taking into account the financial circumstances of both parties.5Justia. Georgia Code 19-6-2 – Attorneys Fees, When and How Awarded
- Modified visitation terms, such as a mandated exchange location, required advance notice for schedule changes, or added enforcement mechanisms.
Defenses to Expect
Georgia case law recognizes three core defenses to contempt: the order was not sufficiently definite, the order was not actually violated, or the violation was not willful.2Justia. Georgia Code 15-1-4 – Extent of Contempt Power
Inability to comply is the one you are most likely to hear. One missed exchange with a documented reason reads very differently than five missed exchanges with five different excuses. The question is whether the other parent made reasonable efforts to comply or at least offered an alternative.
One defense almost never works in Georgia: claiming the child did not want to go. Judges generally take the position that minor children are too young to make that call and that both parents are obligated to make visitation happen regardless of the child’s reluctance. If a child genuinely resists visits, the proper response is a modification request or a guardian ad litem evaluation, not unilaterally canceling the other parent’s time.
If the Other Parent Lives Out of State
A move across state lines does not put the other parent out of reach. Georgia has adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which provides a framework for enforcing custody and visitation orders across state lines.6Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-40 – Short Title
If your Georgia visitation order needs to be enforced where the other parent now lives, you register the order with the courts in that state. Registration requires a request for registration, two copies of the order including one certified copy, a sworn statement that the order has not been modified, and the names and addresses of both parties.7Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-85 – Registering Foreign Custody Determinations The other parent then has 20 days to contest the registration. If they do not, the order is confirmed and becomes enforceable in that state as if a local court had issued it.
When Contempt Becomes Grounds for a Custody Change
Repeated contempt findings can shift more than parenting time. Georgia law lists “the willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent” as a factor judges weigh in custody decisions.8Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-3 – Establishment and Review of Child Custody A parent with multiple contempt findings for blocking visitation has built a court record proving they fail that test.
The visitation portion of a custody judgment can be reviewed and modified without showing a material change in circumstances, as long as it has not been modified in the prior two years.8Justia. Georgia Code 19-9-3 – Establishment and Review of Child Custody A change in primary custody still requires a showing of material change, but a documented pattern of contempt for visitation interference is strong evidence of exactly that. Every contempt action you file today helps build the record you may need later.