Lack of Will With Sole Custody - Question
child custody attorney Georgia Jul 21, 2026
Location: Kentucky (and possibly Georgia family law involved). If a parent who has sole custody of a child passes away, and has not yet made a will, what is the most likely thing to happen? Situation: Current custody arrangement is one parent has full custody of child. Other parent has unsupervised visits and sees child throughout the year, but no court granted custody of their own. The parent with custody has expressed the wish for their mother (child's grandmother) to take care of the child in the event that they die. If the parent with primary custody were to pass away and does not have a legal will stating this, how will the legal system determine custody? Will it go to the mother of the deceased parent (grandmother) according to deceased parent's wishes, or does the child now fall under the custody of the parent that did not previously have any shared or sole custody? The divorce settlement was made in Kentucky, but primary parent with custody has since moved with the child to Georgia. I would assume GA family law would not be involved even if the parent with custody dies there, since that is not where the agreement was originally filed.
