Following a bench trial, the superior court placed three siblings in the permanent custody of their maternal grandparents. Their mother appealed, arguing that the grandparents had not proved the harm necessary to overcome her parental right to custody. The record showed that the grandparents had received temporary custody after a police raid at the mother’s former home and that the children had remained with them for years. It also showed serious family conflict and excessive corporal punishment by the grandfather, while the mother had stable housing, completed substance-abuse treatment, passed drug screens, obtained treatment for bipolar disorder, and maintained a strong relationship with the children. The Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed. Georgia law creates a rebuttable presumption favoring parental custody, and a third-party relative must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the children would suffer physical or significant, long-term emotional harm with the parent. The children’s likely stress from changing homes, without evidence of the required level of harm, did not satisfy that burden. Because the grandparents failed to overcome the presumption, the court reversed the permanent-custody award and remanded for further proceedings.