Bishop v. Baumgartner

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the father visitation of his child, since evidence showed he was unfit for visitation, lacked interest in the child, chronically abused alcohol and lacked judgment.

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Acting pursuant to Rule 344 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Georgia, we granted appellant Andrew Bishop’s application for discretionary review of the final judgment and decree of divorce that awarded sole legal and physical custody of his two-year-old daughter to appellee Erika Baumgartner “Mother” and gave no visitation to Bishop “Father”. The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying visitation to Father. Since evidence in the record supports the trial court’s exercise of its discretion, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying visitation rights to Father.

Father and Mother were married in April 2008 in Ohio and became parents of a baby girl in February 2009, while Mother was living in Ohio and Father was with the United States Army in Iraq.1 They separated in the latter part of 2009, and Mother and the child moved to Georgia in May 2010. Mother filed a petition for divorce in Columbia County, Georgia, in November 2010, and the parties were divorced by judgment and decree entered in June 2011. In the final judgment and decree, the trial court found that Father was morally unfit for visitation and had failed to demonstrate his ability to act in the child’s best interests. In reviewing the seventeen factors set forth in OCGA § 19-9-3 to aid in the determination of the best interests of the child, the trial court found fourteen of the factors strongly favored Mother, two factors were inapplicable to the case, and only one factor, that the guardian ad litem recommended that Father be granted some visitation, favored Father.

Bishop v. Baumgartner

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the father visitation of his child, since evidence showed he was unfit for visitation, lacked interest in the child, chronically abused alcohol and lacked judgment.

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