Q: Is a paper signed out of court a legal guardianship doc? How do I find my children? Where do I start?
Aprox. 5 years ago my 3 children were taken by their father while I was in jail a couple days due to my children not having a guardian in which I had signed a paper of temporary guardianship to my daughters best friends mother which was in effect the day they were taken. Since they were taken they have been completely severed from everyone they ever knew and we do not know where to find them. Since no one showed the paper of temporary guardianship was there anything, the guardianship paper I signed, could have done to prevent my daughter from being taken? How can I find out where my children are at this point? Where do I start?
A: That sounds like a challenging situation. A parent could first report the children missing with the police. If you can afford one, you might consider hiring a private investigator to help locate the temporary guardian and children. Skip tracing services are also available (Google "skip tracing services"). You might contact extended family, relatives, and friends of the temporary guardian and children for leads. In addition, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has some excellent resources and services. Lots of people also post things on social media so you could search popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat for possible leads. I wish you the best.
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