A Georgia judge can order a parent to submit to drug testing in a custody case, and testing can be tied to supervised visitation.
A Judge Can Order Testing
In Willis v. Willis, 288 Ga. 577 (2011), a divorce decree gave the parents joint legal and physical custody and let the mother request hair samples from the father four times a year to test for illegal drugs. The father argued there was no evidence of current drug use, and he testified he had not used drugs in the ten months before the hearing. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, because “there was evidence that Husband had ingested drugs during the child’s lifetime.”
Testing as a Condition of Visits
In Gildar v. Gildar, 309 Ga. App. 730 (2011), a consent judgment gave the father sole custody and conditioned the mother’s visits on safeguards because of her past drug and alcohol use. Later, the father could require drug and alcohol tests. If she missed or failed one, the safeguards returned, and if she failed a safeguard, her visits were to be supervised at her own expense until an addiction specialist cleared her. When she could not show that anyone had watched her give a urine sample for one test, the trial court reinstated the safeguards. When she later sought to hold the father in contempt, the court denied that request but itself lifted supervision, finding no evidence that she was “a present danger to the minor child.” The Court of Appeals affirmed that change to the existing order.
Who Supervises, and Who Pays
The parenting plan form in Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.10 has a section for supervised parenting time, with blanks for the place, the person or organization supervising, and who pays. Our post on what a Georgia parenting plan must include covers the rest of the plan.
The judge, not a therapist, decides when supervision ends, as our post on expert witnesses in custody cases explains.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!