Family law question?
purumpum7 asked:
My brother had given me POA over care of my 2 1/2 y.o. niece due to a trial separation he and his wife had gone through a few months ago. Currently, my brother and his wife are working on getting back together and possibly will be taking care of my niece once more. My brother won’t be discharged from the military until November 2009 (he currently resides in VA) and I fear that if my niece is left with my sister-in-law (residing in CA), she’ll suffer from emotional trauma once again (my sister-in-law left her family because “it was only out of sympathy” that she stayed with my brother and previous to that she had threatened to divorce my brother and leave my niece to be with another man, she does not work, she’s a full-time student and dependent on her parents and my brother for financial support). In my opinion, neither of them are mature enough to actually think of my niece’s well being and more on the look out for their own.
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My brother had given me POA over care of my 2 1/2 y.o. niece due to a trial separation he and his wife had gone through a few months ago. Currently, my brother and his wife are working on getting back together and possibly will be taking care of my niece once more. My brother won’t be discharged from the military until November 2009 (he currently resides in VA) and I fear that if my niece is left with my sister-in-law (residing in CA), she’ll suffer from emotional trauma once again (my sister-in-law left her family because “it was only out of sympathy” that she stayed with my brother and previous to that she had threatened to divorce my brother and leave my niece to be with another man, she does not work, she’s a full-time student and dependent on her parents and my brother for financial support). In my opinion, neither of them are mature enough to actually think of my niece’s well being and more on the look out for their own.
I want this child to grow up in a safe and secure environment. Is there anything that can be done?
July 30th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Stay out of it , there is a lot worse that could happen , kids are tuff.
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
you could be totally correct regarding what you believe about the mom.
Here is what I don’t understand.. brother may or may not have any right to “give” you authority or custody of the child. There is no divorce that you mention, no court order that gives one or the other rights, or more important.. takes away their rights. By law.. both parents have the right to go to a court, and present THEIR side of a story, if they were disputing custody between them. Being a student and living with parents is not necessarily considered being a bad parent.
SOME states allow grandparents to file for custody, but ONLY in certain situations.. normally involving one parent in jail/ dead, etc..and the other parent being proven unfit. I don’t mean “better/ worse”.. unfit as in physically abusing the child, etc. That is only grandparents.. and only in some situations.
IF both parents make the choice of reconciling, and both agree to regain custody of the child.. I don’t see a court allowing a 3rd person to file against them. As I said, you might be completely right in what you are saying, but this is usually a view that only the parents or a judge can make. I think that if mom went to court to demand her child be returned, you would have a very hard time in getting any judge to refuse her request.
I am not a lawyer, but did some heavy research on 3rd party rights concerning my grandchildren (who were taken by the other grandparents). You might spend an hour with a lawyer.. but I suspect he’ll tell you that you have no legal options if they want their child back.