§ 19-7-4.Criteria for loss of parental custody
Chapter 7. Parent and Child Relationship Generally · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 1878 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-7-4
Plain-English Summary
This is one of the oldest rules in the chapter; its credits trace it to the Code of 1863 and an act of the 1878–79 legislative session. It lets a court protect a child from harmful conditions at home by taking custody from the parents or guardians.
Two things must line up. First, the child must be found in one of the listed situations: destitution and suffering, abandonment or exposure; begging; or being raised under immoral, obscene or indecent influences likely to degrade the child’s moral character. Second, it must appear to the appropriate court by competent evidence — including whatever examination of the child is practicable — that because of the parents’ or guardians’ neglect, habitual drunkenness, lewd or other vicious habits, or other behavior, the child needs protection from those conditions for the child’s welfare.
When both are shown, the court may order that the parents or guardians lose custody and that appropriate measures, as provided by law, be taken for the child’s welfare. The word is “may”: the order rests in the court’s discretion. The section names neither the court nor the procedure; it leaves both to other law. It also speaks only of custody, not of ending parental rights. For the ways a parent loses parental power, including abandonment, failure to provide necessaries and cruel treatment, see § 19-7-1. For the duty to report suspected abuse and neglect, see § 19-7-5.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Georgia court take a child away from parents for neglect?
Yes. If a child is found destitute and suffering, abandoned, exposed, begging, or raised under degrading influences, and competent evidence shows that the parents’ or guardians’ neglect, habitual drunkenness or other behavior makes protection necessary, the court may order that they lose custody and that appropriate measures be taken for the child’s welfare. The order is discretionary, not automatic.
What evidence does a court need under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-4?
Competent evidence, including whatever examination of the child is practicable, that the parents’ or guardians’ conduct — neglect, habitual drunkenness, lewd or other vicious habits, or other behavior — makes it necessary for the child’s welfare to protect the child from the conditions found. The section does not set a specific standard of proof beyond that.
Does this section apply to guardians as well as parents?
Yes. The section applies to the “parents or guardians” of the child. A guardian whose neglect, habits or behavior leave a child in the listed conditions can lose custody the same way a parent can, if the court finds protection necessary for the child’s welfare.
Does losing custody under this section end a parent’s rights?
Not by its own terms. This section speaks only of depriving parents or guardians of custody and taking appropriate measures as provided by other law; it says nothing about terminating parental rights. Code Section 19-7-1 separately lists the ways a parent loses parental power, including abandonment, failure to provide necessaries, cruel treatment and court orders terminating parental rights.
Does a child have to be homeless or begging for this section to apply?
No. Begging is one trigger, but so are destitution and suffering, abandonment, exposure, and being raised under immoral, obscene or indecent influences likely to degrade the child’s moral character. Any one of those can start the inquiry, but the court must also find that the parents’ or guardians’ behavior makes protecting the child necessary.
Amendment History
Laws 1878-79, p. 162, § 1.
Formerly Code 1863, § 1746; Code 1868, § 1786; Code 1873, § 1795; Code 1882, §§ 1795, 4612g; Civil Code 1895, §§ 2504, 2505; Civil Code 1910, §§ 3023, 3024; Code 1933, §§ 74-109, 74-110.