guardianship of niece & nephew without fathers consent he is on drugs and is going to jail he has full custody

Question

I have been watching my brothers kids for about three years his youngest i hae raising since birth, the mother was on drugs when she had him she lost all her rights with both kids my brother has full custody. I moved out of state with brothers permission but he is currently using drugs and is waiting to go to jail , he does not want to give me gaurdianship for reasons i do not know is there anything i can do to get gaurdianship without his permission before anything happens to the kids

Answer 1

Once he is in jail, contact the child welfare office and petition the court for full custody.

Answer 2

First of all, I would just like to touch on the "custody" issue for a moment. Custody is NOT where a child lives. This is a very common mistake made by most people. Custody is the ability of a parent or guardian to make decisions about a child's lifestyle and well being. That means a person with sole or joint custody has the legal standing to make important decisions in the childs life such as where the child will go to school, what religion the child will practice, what kind of medical care and treatment the child will receive. Parents with joint custody are suppose to make these decisions together, while a parent with sole custody has the right to decide all of these things without the other parent's consent. Where a child actually lives is referred to as Physical Placement. So, onto your question, a parent is generally not awarded sole custody without the knowledge of the other parent. When one parent files for a custody hearing with family court, the court will then issue a sub penoa for the other parent. That means the other parent will be commanded to appear in front of the court on the day of the hearing. If the constable is unable to reach or "serve" that parent with the sub peona, then it's up to the judges discretion, but they do not just award custody after one failed attempt. The court will give both parents every opportuninty to appear, before making a ruling. You can be granted temporary custody and placement of a child, but this is usually done for victims of domestic violence. Now on to the kidnapping thing. Are there any court orders in place at this time? Has placement already been ordered by a judge? Has visitation already been ordered by a judge? If the answer to these questions is no, then the child has NOT been kidnapped. Without any court orders, both parents have full parental rights to the child. If you need more info, or have more questions feel free to email. Good Luck.

Answer 3

You cannot have guardianship without his permission unless you get the courts and/or CPS involved..... and who is to say they will give you custody ( I am sure they would but they might not if someone decides they would like to fight for custody). Tell your brother that someone has to have custody of those kids before he goes to jail so they can go to the doctor, go to school, etc. You could always call CPS in the area your brother lives in and ask them what should be done because the kids have to have legal guardianship and if their custodial father is in jail then who will be legally responsible for them? Good luck.... just call around and I am sure you will get the needed info.

Answer 4

Both parents need to be declared unfit.

In the battle of mom vs. dad the standard was "best interest of the child" It is possible that mom was declared unfit, but more likely the courts just decided that full custody for dad was in the "best interest of the children"

In the battle of uncle vs dad. Uncle must prove that dad is unfit to be a parent. And once that occurs kids might go to mom unless you can prove she too is unfit to be a parent.

Just because she lost out in the battle with dad doesn't mean she was deemed unfit.

If both parents are unfit, then you can get custody if it is in the "best intererst of the children".

The reason why he might be unwilling to give up custody is many judges don't like creating orphans. So if a single parent has sole custody one often avoids jail or gets a shorter sentence.

Answer 5

Go to court and get guardianship. Someone needs to anyway as you aren't going to be able to sign school documents or medical authorizations.

Their parents are both addicts and they are no able to care for their children until they are clean, unfortunately that is not the way it works most of the time!

The court will give you permission under guardianship. This also assures that he will not get the kids back until he is clean!

Anyone can file for guardianship, and it is better without CPS involvement as they will have the most to say before the kids go home.

If your brother has been an active addict, I am surprised someone is not already involved!

Answer 6

well if he goes to jail then he has to . Because when he goes to jail then that means that you will be there solo guardian right. You can get guardianship of your niece and nephew just because of the reasons that you have stated he is on drugs and you already have them right that. well if you put them on your taxes then i don't see the problem why don't.

( He can't take care of them while he is on drugs. In a judge will ask who is the next kind of him? also save yourself and those kids some pain. And get those papers fill out with out him knowing that or being there . Then that way he can't go to court saying that he don't want you to have he's kid's. That you take care of anyways.)

my sister in law had that same problem one time, and she didn't tell her baby daddy that she was getting full custody of her son. he was getting in to the navy at that time and he was going with another girl that she didn't like her son to be around her at all. ( so if you know how to get the papers then go right ahead and do that.)


if not then go to a lawyer that can help you out with that . OR go ask a friend that can help you out . you never know who can help in lass you ask some one about that.

i hope i helped you out some.
good luck with that.

Answer 7

You can go to the courthouse of the county you live in and file papers to request legal guardianship of the children thru the court system

or

you can call children & family services/child welfare and ask them assist you

You are going to need it eventually because without guardianship you can not get medical treatment for the children or be able to register them in school

Answer 8

You need to petition the court for custody. If he has full custody, most likely the courts would force him to give you at least temporary custody. You would need to have this in place in the event that you had to make medical decisions, school related decisions, etc.

I would begin this process as soon as possible.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 9

I would first call the social services department in your state and see how they can help you. Also, there are agencies that provide legal advice and representation at no charge. Try this web site www.lawhelp.org.

Good luck!

Answer 10

you have to petition the Court to give you guardianship.

contact you local social services dept and maybe they can recommend a lawyer to help you or call Legal Aid

good luck to you and the children