Q: How can I get guardianship of my niece?
How can I get guardianship of my niece? My younger sister has 3 kids, her oldest in 9. My niece has stayed with me on an off her whole life because my sister was a teenage mother. Now with 3 kids my sister is struggling to keep a job. Needless to say my sister do not have a high school education and my niece is suffering. She has an IEP and her school is not helping her. My sister isn't any help because she barely knows the work herself.
We talked about my niece leaving with me because she feel that I can do a better job at caring for her. My niece father isn't in her life. I looked into Kinship care in Maryland but my sister do not fall into any of the "Serious Hardship" categories. That would be the only way I can enroll her in a school that's located near me. If we do temporary custody will we have to go to court? I don't want to take her child, I just want to help her until she can get on her feet?
A: I would recommend speaking to a family law attorney about what options you have beyond guardianship which will provide you with a greater ability to care for your niece. The Court will have to be involved in both a guardianship and custody matter. In addition, the father also needs to be involved (or at least provided with the opportunity to be involved) regarding both guardianship and custody. If you choose not to speak to an attorney and just want to proceed on guardianship on your own the link below has forms for guardianship petitions (half way down the page). http://registers.maryland.gov/main/forms.html
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