then gave custody to us and the mother(my husbands sister)also signed the agreement and found it was in her daughters best interest, even though she has never had custody. mom consantly would leave her with the granparents(my husbands parents) even when they would say no. She would say things like , fine i will take the baby but i am going shopping and wont have time to feed her, and things like that to guilt them to keep her. When they would babysit for her she would not always come back when promised, sometimes for days. She went to her moms for a week as her mom has the right to see her, although she doesn,t bother to call or come to see her very much. Now the mom has said she is not coming home and my neice wants to stay with her. My inlaws are furious with their daughter. How long can we prevent this from happening legally since we have custody?
2007-08-12 05:17:03 · 4 answers · asked by dragonfly 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
There is nothing to prevent, you have custody. If she refuses to send her home, contact the police, show them the custodial agreement, and go and get her. It makes no difference who the parent is at this point, it makes a difference who has legal custody.
If you have custody, and the agreement does NOT state that she can rescind the agreement, and they are not simple gaurdianship papers which she can rescind, then you have the legal right and the moral obligation to do whatever is necessary to get her back to your home where you know she is safe.
2007-08-12 05:25:33 · answer #1 · answered by Michael H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's natural for your niece to want to stay with her mother...after all, how horrible is it for a kid when their own parent abandons them and doesn't have much to do with them their entire lives? When even your mom leaves you, who else will ever think you're worthy of love? In her mind, she was probably rejected by her grandparents again when they gave custody to you!
But you have custody and you're the adult. You have to do what's best for the kid. Letting her live with such an unstable person is clearly not in the child's best interest.
Go get your niece and bring her home. If the natural mother wants her daughter to live with her, tell her she has to get a lawyer and sue you for custody. Chances are, since she never went out of her way for her daughter before, when she finds out that getting her daughter back is going to take time, energy, effort, money and commitment, she'll fade off into the woodwork again.
The thing of it is, though, that your niece needs the love and support of everyone around her and needs to be able to form life-long, stable relationships to fill up that mommy-sized hole in her heart. You're going to have to work to prove to her that she's worth loving and that you do, indeed, love her beyond limits.
You have your work cut out for you and I'm so sorry that your family is facing this hardship right now.
2007-08-12 06:28:07 · answer #2 · answered by ann81969 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would take your custody agreement and go to the police department closest to where your niece is and have them go pick her up. After which i would get a police report on this incident. You need to start documenting EVERYTHING that goes on with this situation. I would then get a lawyer and go to court and have the sister in law's rights totally terminated.
2007-08-12 05:28:44 · answer #3 · answered by mom of 5 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you have legal custody of her you can have a police officer go with you to get her. What she is doing is illegal and she can be prosecuted for it. It's called parental kidnapping.
2007-08-12 05:28:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋