Asked in Family Law and Juvenile Law for North Carolina

Q: My questions are regarding my now,15 year old niece. My brother and his wife (residents of Florida)

Take care of my niece. Informing me they're not able to handle her anymore , considering placing her into a juvenile facility. Her skipping school, sneaking out, angry outbursts and self mutilation was worsening. We became very concerned about the family dynamics being the core of her acting out and agreed to move my niece into our home over a year ago. With a lot of patience, love and consistency, her cutting stopped. Both physical and emotional scars healing. HS GPA 4.22 We & she want to proceed with adoption. Although her parents don't want her back, they're not wanting us to adopt her? How do we proceed legally ? Going back to her parents unhappy relationship (vrg of divorce)would return my nieces hopelessness. As we are now aware ,her quality of life was severely affected. Would my niece's request for us to adopt her and her transformation even be weighed in concideration ?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Melissa Averett
Melissa Averett
Answered
  • Chapel Hill, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: You have to file an action terminating her parent's parental rights and asking the court to allow you to adopt. To terminate their rights, you have to show they are unfit parents and are not likely to get help to become fit parents. You will need to hire a lawyer to do this, these are not easy cases, and even if you succeed in getting their rights terminated, you want to make sure the adoption is done correctly. And if there is a custody order in another state, jurisdiction may be a complicated issue as to where you can file to terminate their rights. So hire a family law attorney. Here is the statute on termination of parental rights: http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_7B/GS_7B-1111.html

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