Bell v. Taylor, 334 Ga. App. 267

Child D.B. born 2008 to unmarried parents David Bell Jr. (father) and Kristy Taylor (mother); maternal grandmother Misty Taylor has been the child’s primary caregiver since 2011 under temporary guardianship.
Father had minimal early involvement, admitted past drug/alcohol use but later became sober, married (2014), and established a stable home and employment.
Father filed for legitimation and custody in 2013; court granted legitimation and visitation in January 2014.
Custody hearing held August 20, 2014; final order (Oct. 22, 2014) awarded joint legal custody to father and grandmother but primary physical custody to grandmother.
Trial court found strong bond and long residence with grandmother and concluded removal would be harmful; father appealed arguing the court misapplied the parent-vs-third-party custody legal standard.

Issue	Bell's Argument	Taylor's Argument	Held
Whether trial court properly applied OCGA § 19-7-1(b.1) presumption favoring a fit parent	Trial court failed to require grandmother to show that awarding custody to father would cause physical or significant long-term emotional harm; mere disruption/bond insufficient	Grandmother argued strong bond and child’s longtime residence justified custody to avoid harm from removal	Reversed: trial court’s findings did not show required physical or long-term psychological harm; stress/discomfort of reunification insufficient to overcome parental presumption

Burke v. King, 254 Ga. App. 351 (defining statutory presumptions favoring parents)
Clark v. Wade, 273 Ga. 587 (holding third party must show physical or significant long-term emotional harm to rebut parental presumption)
Strickland v. Strickland, 330 Ga. App. 879 (applying Clark standard)
Harris v. Snelgrove, 290 Ga. 181 (affirming the high burden on third parties seeking custody over fit parents)
Lopez v. Olson, 314 Ga. App. 533 (listing factors for evaluating harm and caretaking bonds)