Alan H. Meincke, a partner in the firm’s Atlanta, Georgia office, recently obtained primary physical custody and all legal decision-making authority on behalf of his client after a four-day trial involving contested child custody and contempt in Forsyth County, Georgia.  Attorney Meincke also obtained a $50,000.00 attorney’s fees award to be paid by the opposing party.

The client’s ex-wife filed a lawsuit seeking an emergency hearing in 2019 over a potential change in the parties’ son’s school.  At the time the case began, the parties shared equal (50/50) parenting time.  After a hearing in which the court denied emergency relief, it appointed a Guardian ad Litem to investigate the case.  Attorney Meincke and his client worked with the Guardian ad Litem over the course of the next two-and-a-half years (and through many COVID-19-related delays), took depositions, participated in multiple evidentiary hearings on custody and discovery-related issues, and engaged an expert therapist in parental alienation/enmeshment.

After a four-day trial earlier this year involving considerable expert testimony, the Court awarded Attorney Meincke’s client primary physical custody of his son, temporarily suspended the mother’s parenting time, granted the father all decision-making (legal custody) authority for his son, and awarded the father child support.

After the trial, Attorney Meincke, on behalf of his client, requested attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation and received an award of $50,000.00 payable by the mother due to her behavior during the course of the litigation.

If you have any questions or would like more information about complex child custody litigation involving parental alienation, enmeshment, or triangulation, please contact Alan H. Meincke at ameincke@c-wlaw.com or (470) 740-4100.