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Kinship · Explainer

Guardianship, custody, or adoption: which one fits?

You're raising a relative's child, and someone — a school, a doctor, a caseworker, a judge — is asking what your legal relationship is. Here are Georgia's five options in plain English: what each one changes, who can undo it, what each one pays, and the one question to ask before you sign anything.

Last verified July 3, 2026 · Sources: O.C.G.A. Titles 15, 19 & 29 · PAMMS 22.8 · Georgia Legal Aid

This page is a map, not legal advice

Choosing between guardianship, custody, and adoption changes your rights, the parents' rights, and the money your family can receive — sometimes permanently. It is exactly the kind of decision that deserves a lawyer, and free ones exist for kinship caregivers in Georgia. What follows summarizes Georgia law as of July 3, 2026; laws change, and county court practices vary. Please read it as a map, then talk to a person.

Start here: you don't have to pick today

Take a breath. Nothing on this page is a decision you have to make this week. Many relatives care for a child for months with no paperwork at all, or with a simple power of attorney, while they figure out what the family needs. If you want a human to talk it through with, Georgia's statewide Kinship CareLine at 1-855-357-6566 and the Kinship Navigator Program exist for exactly this — no custody papers required to call. Verified Jul 3, 2026 If you're brand new to all of this, our kinship care starter guide is the page before this one.

If DFCS has an open case: read this before you agree to anything

Georgia pays a monthly foster care per diem only while a child is in DFCS legal custody in an approved home. The post-guardianship subsidies that can replace it (Enhanced Relative Rate, Subsidized Guardianship) generally exist only for children leaving DFCS custody — and the subsidy agreement usually must be approved and signed before the judge signs the guardianship or custody order. Agree to an order first, and that monthly support may be gone for good, with no way back. So before you say yes to any guardianship or custody order, ask the case manager — ideally in writing — "Will this child qualify for the Enhanced Relative Rate or Subsidized Guardianship, and is the paperwork in place?" Verified Jul 3, 2026 Details in the money section.

The five options at a glance

Georgia gives relative caregivers five main legal tools, from lightest to most permanent. The two questions that separate them fastest: can the parent undo it, and does it end the parents' legal rights? (Spoiler on the second: only adoption does.)

OptionWhich court?Can the parent undo it?Parents' rights end?Verified
Power of attorney No court — a notarized form Yes — any time, in writing No Jul 3, 2026
Temporary guardianship Probate court They can ask any time; if you object, a judge decides No Jul 3, 2026
Permanent guardianship Juvenile court Only by proving a major change in circumstances No Jul 3, 2026
Custody order Superior or juvenile court They can go back to court to seek a change No Jul 3, 2026
Adoption Superior court No Yes — permanently Jul 3, 2026

Short cells hide real nuance, so each option gets its own section below. One vocabulary note before we start: none of the first four options "takes the child away" from the parents in a legal-rights sense. Guardianship and custody move day-to-day authority to you; the parents remain the child's legal parents, with rights the law protects. Only adoption — or a separate court order terminating parental rights — changes that.

Power of attorney: fast, free, and fully reversible

Under Georgia's Supporting and Strengthening Families Act (O.C.G.A. § 19-9-120 and following), a parent can sign a notarized power of attorney for the care of a minor child giving you authority over schooling, medical care, and day-to-day needs — no court, no judge, no filing fee. Verified Jul 3, 2026 There's a statutory fill-in-the-blank form (§ 19-9-134), and it usually lasts up to one year and can be renewed; longer periods are allowed for military parents on active duty and when the agent is the child's grandparent. Verified Jul 3, 2026

Here's the blunt part: a POA is convenience, not security. It does not transfer custody and does not touch the parents' rights — and the parent can revoke it at any time, in writing, without asking anyone's permission. Verified Jul 3, 2026 It also can't delegate the big decisions: consent to marriage, adoption, or abortion stays with the parent. If you need paperwork so the school and the pediatrician will talk to you, and the family is cooperative, a POA may be all you need. If you need stability a parent can't take back on a bad day, keep reading.

Temporary guardianship: the probate court middle ground

A temporary guardianship of a minor (O.C.G.A. §§ 29-2-5 through 29-2-8) is granted by your county's probate court, using a statewide form (GPCSF 28). With the parents' notarized consent, the court can grant it without a hearing. Verified Jul 3, 2026 If a parent with full parental rights objects to the petition, the court will generally dismiss it — so this path works when parents agree, at least on paper, that the child should be with you. Verified Jul 3, 2026

As temporary guardian you get real authority (§ 29-2-21): physical custody, deciding where the child lives (within Georgia), and the power to make decisions about support, care, education, health, and welfare. Verified Jul 3, 2026 It does not end the parents' rights. It ends automatically when the child turns 18, is adopted, is emancipated, or a permanent guardian is appointed — and a parent can petition to end it at any time. Here's the nuance that makes it sturdier than a POA: if the parent petitions and you don't object within 10 days, the court must end the guardianship; but if you do object, a judge decides what's in the child's best interests (the probate court hears it or sends it to juvenile court). Verified Jul 3, 2026 A parent can start the process any time, but they can't simply snap it back.

Permanent guardianship: stability a parent can't simply undo

A juvenile-court permanent guardianship (O.C.G.A. §§ 15-11-240 through 15-11-244) is the heavyweight guardianship, and it typically arises out of a dependency case — that is, when DFCS is already involved. Before granting one, the court must find that reasonable efforts to reunify the child with the parents would be detrimental or that the living parents consent; that termination of parental rights and adoption are not in the child's best interests; that you can provide a safe, permanent home; and that the appointment is in the child's best interests. Verified Jul 3, 2026 DFCS's own playbook for these cases is policy manual section 22.11.

The defining feature: a parent cannot revoke it. The order can only be changed or ended if a court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, a material change in circumstances — and that changing it serves the child's best interests (§ 15-11-244). Verified Jul 3, 2026 The order addresses the parents' visitation, and the court can order the parents to pay child support. And to say it plainly one more time: permanent guardianship does not terminate parental rights — the parents remain the child's legal parents. Verified Jul 3, 2026

One naming trap: Georgia's probate courts can also appoint permanent guardians for minors under a different law (Title 29). This section describes the juvenile-court version used in DFCS dependency cases. If someone offers you a "permanent guardianship," ask which court and which statute — a lawyer can tell you in minutes.

Custody: parent-level authority, but parents can come back

A custody order makes you the child's legal custodian, with parent-like decision-making authority. For relatives, Georgia law is deliberately narrow. A limited list of relatives can seek custody in superior court (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-1(b.1)) — and under the Georgia Supreme Court's Clark v. Wade decision, you must first prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that custody with the parent would harm the child, and then that custody with you best promotes the child's welfare. Verified Jul 3, 2026 That is a high bar, on purpose: parents have constitutional rights to raise their children. Separately, in an open dependency case, the juvenile court can award temporary custody of a child to a relative or other third party (DFCS policy 22.12), and Georgia also has an "equitable caregiver" law (§ 19-7-3.1) that lets some non-parents who have been parenting a child seek recognition. Verified Jul 3, 2026

Functionally, custody sits near permanent guardianship: a court order, real authority, no end to the parents' rights — and parents can return to court later to try to change it. Which one fits depends on which court your situation is already in and what the county's practice is. This is one of the spots where a free lawyer earns their keep.

Adoption: the only permanent one

Adoption, granted by the superior court, is the only option on this page that permanently ends the birth parents' legal rights and duties. Georgia has a specific path for relatives (O.C.G.A. § 19-8-7): a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, great aunt or uncle, or sibling (with their spouse, if married) can adopt when the parents voluntarily surrender their rights to that relative, or after a court has terminated parental rights. Verified Jul 3, 2026 Relative adoptions are generally more streamlined than adopting a stranger's child — how much investigation is required is largely up to the judge. Verified Jul 3, 2026

The decree makes the child your child "for all purposes, including inheritance" (§ 19-8-19). Two consequences worth sitting with. First, the child generally stops inheriting through the birth parents — with one statutory exception preserving inheritance through a birth parent who died before the adoption. Verified Jul 3, 2026 Second, adoption ends the parents' future child-support obligation — it's the only option here that does. Verified Jul 3, 2026 Adoption also rewrites family roles: a grandmother legally becomes Mom. For some families that's exactly right; for others, permanent guardianship keeps the relationships legible while still protecting the child. If you're leaning this way, our adopting in Georgia guide walks the process.

The money, honestly

Money should not drive this decision — but you deserve to see the whole board before you choose, because the system will not volunteer it. The single most expensive mistake kinship caregivers make in Georgia is agreeing to a guardianship or custody order before the subsidy paperwork exists. Here's the landscape:

Your situationWhat may existVerified
Child is in DFCS custody, placed with you as an approved kinship foster home The foster care per diem — see the per diem guide. It stops the day the child leaves DFCS custody. Jul 3, 2026
Child is leaving DFCS custody into your permanent guardianship or custody Enhanced Relative Rate (ERR) for relatives; Subsidized Guardianship (SG/ESG/NRSG) programs — paperwork must be in place before the order Jul 3, 2026
Child was never in DFCS custody (POA, or straight to probate court) Child-only TANF + the child's Medicaid/PeachCare. No per diem, no DFCS subsidy. Jul 3, 2026
You're a grandparent raising a grandchild GRG monthly subsidy + one-time CRISP payment, on top of child-only TANF, if you qualify Jul 3, 2026
You adopt a child from DFCS custody Adoption assistance (monthly payment + Medicaid) if the child meets special-needs criteria Jul 3, 2026

The subsidies for children leaving DFCS custody

When a child exits DFCS custody into a relative's permanent guardianship or custody, the per diem stops — but Georgia runs post-permanency subsidies that can partially replace it. The Enhanced Relative Rate (ERR) is for relatives taking permanent custody or guardianship of a child leaving DFCS custody; it pays a reduced rate — reportedly around 80% of the per diem, though we could not confirm that figure against a primary source, so treat it as approximate and confirm with your case manager. Verified Jul 3, 2026 The Subsidized Guardianship family of programs (SG, ESG, and a non-relative version, NRSG) works similarly for caregivers granted permanent guardianship. The state doesn't publish current dollar amounts for these; DFCS policy says they're less than the basic per diem, and that a family can't receive a subsidy and the per diem in the same month. Verified Jul 3, 2026

The eligibility thread running through all of them: the child was in DFCS care, your home passed the kinship assessment, a county-approved subsidy agreement was signed, and the court entered the required findings — all before the guardianship order. Payments start the month after guardianship transfers, and the agreement renews annually. Verified Jul 3, 2026 A relative who bypasses DFCS and goes straight to probate court gets none of this — which is not a reason to involve DFCS unnecessarily, just a fact you should hold while deciding.

Money that doesn't care which option you pick

Child-only TANF. Any relative within the allowed degrees of relationship can apply for a TANF grant for the child alone — your income isn't counted, and you don't need any custody or guardianship order. Verified Jul 3, 2026 It's modest: roughly $155 a month for one child by the most recent figures we could find (an amount essentially unchanged since 1997) — confirm the current amount with DFCS when you apply. Verified Jul 3, 2026

GRG, for grandparents. Grandparents raising grandchildren who receive child-only TANF, meet GRG income guidelines, and are 55 or older (or are aged, blind, or disabled and receiving disability benefits) can get a monthly subsidy per grandchild plus a one-time crisis payment (CRISP) of up to four times the maximum TANF benefit for the family size. Verified Jul 3, 2026 One honest flag: the state's own materials currently disagree on the monthly GRG amount — we've seen both $50 and $100 per month per child in official sources, and couldn't resolve the conflict as of July 3, 2026. Ask DFCS which figure is current, and if they tell you, tell us.

TEFRA / Katie Beckett Medicaid. If the child has significant disabilities, they may qualify for Medicaid based on their own income alone, regardless of your legal status — the Katie Beckett Medicaid Team is at 678-248-7449. Verified Jul 3, 2026

Child support survives everything except adoption. Under a POA, a temporary or permanent guardianship, or a custody order, the parents still owe support for their child, and as guardian or custodian you can pursue it through Georgia's Division of Child Support Services; a juvenile-court permanent guardianship order can include support directly. Only adoption ends the parents' future support duty. Verified Jul 3, 2026

After a relative adoption from foster care. A child adopted from DFCS custody who meets special-needs criteria can receive adoption assistance — monthly payments up to the family foster care rate, reimbursement of non-recurring adoption expenses up to $1,500 per child, and Medicaid, generally to age 18 — including when the adopting family is a relative. Verified Jul 3, 2026

Like every money fact on this site, the figures above come from state policy manuals and official pages verified July 3, 2026, and they sit on our pre-launch re-check list. We deliberately don't print per diem or subsidy dollar amounts here — Georgia doesn't publish stable numbers for them. If a caseworker quotes you something different from this page, ask them to point to the current policy, then report it to us.

One line on grandparent visitation

If your worry is seeing a grandchild rather than raising one: O.C.G.A. § 19-7-3 lets a grandparent ask the superior court for visitation, but you must show by 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 — and an original action can only be filed once every two years, and not in a year when a custody case is already pending. Verified Jul 3, 2026 It's a hard standard; talk to one of the free legal resources below before filing.

This is the rare legal decision where free, experienced counsel actually exists for people in your shoes:

Whichever option you land on: taking on a relative's child, at your stage of life, with no warning, is a profound act of love. The paperwork will never say that. We will.

Sources & verification

This page summarizes Georgia law and DFCS policy in plain language as of July 3, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship with anyone. Statutes get amended, subsidy rules change, and county probate practices vary — before you sign or agree to anything, talk to a lawyer (the free resources above exist for this) and confirm money questions with your DFCS case manager or the Kinship Navigator. This page is [LEGAL]-flagged in our system and receives attorney review before and after launch.

Keep pulling this thread

Kinship care: start here

The two kinship paths in Georgia, the home evaluation, and who to call in week one.

Guide · 8 min

The per diem, with actual numbers

What approved foster homes are paid while a child is in DFCS custody — and when it stops.

Explainer · 7 min

What termination of parental rights means

The court order behind most adoptions — what it actually ends, and what it doesn't.

Explainer · 8 min

Talk it through with a real person first.

Georgia's Kinship CareLine connects relatives raising kids to navigators, benefits help, and legal referrals — no custody paperwork needed to call. Online: kinnav.dhs.ga.gov.

Kinship CareLine1-855-357-6566