In Georgia, both parents owe a duty to support their child, and the duty rests on each of them separately.
What the Statute Says
Under OCGA 19-7-2, “[i]t is the joint and several duty of each parent to provide for the maintenance, protection, and education of his or her child until the child reaches the age of majority, dies, marries, or becomes emancipated, whichever first occurs.” For a child born out of wedlock, OCGA 19-7-24 imposes the same duty. In Kendrick v. Childers, 267 Ga. 98 (1996), the Georgia Supreme Court held that the public policy of the state, expressed in OCGA 19-6-15 and 19-7-2, “is to require parents to provide adequate support for their minor children.”
Custody Does Not Change Who Owes It
In Hunt v. Carter, 261 Ga. 259 (1991), the parents had joint legal custody. The Supreme Court held that “a parent may be required to support a child, notwithstanding the existence of ‘joint legal custody.’” Under OCGA 19-6-15(b)(1), the worksheet begins with “the monthly gross income of both the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent,” and Hardman v. Hardman, 295 Ga. 732 (2014), describes the resulting presumption that the custodial parent bears the children’s expenses “assisted by child support paid by the non-custodial parent.”
It Can Run in Either Direction
In Williamson v. Williamson, 293 Ga. 721 (2013), the father had 60 percent of the parenting time, making him the custodial parent, and argued that a custodial parent can never be ordered to pay support. The Supreme Court disagreed. Because the mother’s income was significantly lower and the children still spent 40 percent of their time with her, the trial court “retains some discretion” to require the custodial parent to pay child support to the noncustodial parent. OCGA 19-6-15(b)(9) makes the same point in arithmetic: if the noncustodial parent’s obligation comes out negative, “the custodial parent is the payer of child support.”
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