Lori C. Obenauf, LLC

Focus and practice areas

Lori C. Obenauf, LLC handles family law matters in Macon, Georgia. The firm's practice list covers divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, alimony and spousal support, adoptions, and juvenile court dependency cases involving child abuse and neglect.

Military divorce appears as its own listed area, alongside military family law matters generally. That distinction matters in a state with a large service population. Military divorces bring in questions civilian cases don't raise, including pension division rules and residency issues tied to duty station.

Adoption work includes grandparent adoptions. The firm names this specifically on its site.

How the firm is set up

Lori C. Obenauf runs the firm as a sole practitioner. Every case that comes in the door goes to the attorney whose name is on the sign.

The firm states that Obenauf has 34 years of combined legal and business experience. Fifteen of those years were in corporate business. In my opinion, that corporate stretch is the more interesting line on the page. Family law cases often turn on assets: a closely held company, a partnership interest, retirement accounts, a spouse who controls the books. An attorney who has spent fifteen years inside business operations has seen how those structures work from the other side.

What a solo structure means for a client

Clients deal with one attorney throughout. There's no associate handoff after the first meeting, and no question about who's handling the file.

The tradeoff is capacity. A sole practitioner takes on a finite caseload, and clients in fast-moving disputes should ask about availability early. As a reviewer, I'd raise that in the first conversation, and the firm offers a free initial consultation where the question fits naturally.

Mediation and the registered neutral credential

Obenauf is a registered neutral qualified to mediate. In Georgia, registration runs through the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution, and it's a formal credential with training requirements attached.

The firm presents mediation as an option for parties who want an alternative to litigation. For divorcing couples, that route often means lower cost, a faster timeline, and terms the parties write themselves. Custody arrangements built by agreement also tend to hold up better over the years that follow, because both parents had a hand in them.

The credential also signals something about how the attorney approaches a contested file. A lawyer trained to sit in the middle of a dispute has spent time watching what actually moves parties toward settlement. That perspective carries over when she's on one side of the table.

Juvenile dependency work

Dependency cases sit in a different court and follow different rules than a divorce. These are matters where the state has stepped in over allegations of abuse or neglect, and the proceedings move on statutory deadlines with a caseworker, a guardian ad litem, and often a parent's attorney all in the room.

Georgia juvenile courts operate under their own code, with hearings for preliminary protective orders, adjudication, and disposition. Reunification plans carry deadlines that a parent has to meet. A firm that lists dependency alongside its divorce and custody work is signaling comfort in that courtroom.

The connection to the adoption practice is straightforward. Dependency cases sometimes end in a termination of parental rights, and the child's placement then moves toward permanency. An attorney who has worked both ends of that process understands what the juvenile court file means for a later adoption petition.

Geography and reach

The firm serves Macon and the surrounding areas. Macon sits in Bibb County, and family law practice there means regular appearances in the Macon Judicial Circuit's superior courts and the Bibb County juvenile court.

Local practice has practical value in family law. Judges in a circuit develop patterns: how they handle temporary hearings, what parenting plan language they prefer, how much weight they give a guardian ad litem's report. An attorney who appears in front of the same bench regularly knows those patterns.

The office is on Arkwright Road, in the northern part of Macon near I-475.

What the site does and doesn't state

The firm's website is direct about its practice areas and its structure. It names the attorney, states her experience in years, lists the case types she takes, and identifies her mediation credential.

Some details common to law firm listings aren't on the site. It gives no founding year, only the attorney's years of experience. Law school and bar admission year aren't stated. The firm publishes no case results, settlement figures, or client testimonials, and it lists no social media accounts.

For clients evaluating the firm, that means the initial consultation carries weight. It's the place to ask about courtroom experience in the specific case type, about typical timelines, and about how the attorney approaches settlement versus trial. The consultation is offered at no charge, which lowers the cost of asking.

Who this firm fits

The practice profile points toward clients with family law matters in the Macon area who want a single attorney on the file. In my opinion, three groups map most closely to what the firm lists.

Military families facing divorce get an attorney who names that work specifically. Parents in juvenile dependency proceedings get someone who handles that court alongside private custody disputes. Couples who want to settle rather than litigate get an attorney with mediation training.

Clients with high-conflict custody litigation, complex business valuations, or interstate jurisdictional fights should discuss the scope directly during the consultation. Those cases can demand substantial hours, and it's worth confirming fit before retaining any firm.

Obenauf has practiced law and worked in business for a combined 34 years, and she handles her cases personally in a court system she appears in regularly.