How To Get Custody Of A Relative's Child That Is Living With You
Posted on: 17 July 2015
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If a relative drops off his or her child at your home and expects you to care for the child for the next few months or longer, you may need to pursue legal guardianship of this child. Legal guardianship will give you the right to make decisions for this child, which is something that will be necessary if you end up keeping this child for months or years.
Why you need this
Legal guardianship is needed for many reasons. It is needed to register a child for school, and it may be needed for the child to get medical treatment. If you are caring for a child in your home for more than a few weeks, you need to get legal guardianship. Getting legal guardianship of the child could also prevent the child from ending up in foster care.
How to get legal guardianship
The easiest way to get guardianship of a child is to ask the parents to sign a document that gives you this control. If the parents will sign this form, you will easily be able to get the rights you need for the child. If the parents will not sign the form, it will be harder to get this accomplished.
The parents might fight you on this because they do not want to relinquish control. If this is the case, you may want to talk to them about their future plans, and you might want to ask them why they left the child with you. You can also explain the issues that could arise from this situation. If they still refuse to agree to this and expect you to keep the child, you may need to go through the legal system to get your request approved.
How the legal system works
In guardianship cases, the person requesting guardianship rights will have to prove that these rights are needed. This is something you might be able to do by:
- Explaining the situation and how the parents left the child with you
- Proving that the parents are unfit and cannot provide a good, stable home for the child
- Letting the court know that it is in the child's best interest to remain living with you
Guardianship cases will involve going to a court hearing, and you may want to hire an attorney to represent you. If you strongly believe that this child would be better in your care, you will need to pursue legal guardianship. To learn more, contact a lawyer that specializes in child custody cases.