Q: What can i do to be able to have my 15 year old sister live with me ?
My sister grew up with her mom and her adopted father. I grew up with my mom and step father. She did not have a very good home life. She is not at all a bad kid just misunderstood. We recently met 2 months ago and she was staying with godmom. The day i was able to meet her with out biological father she moved into his house. Truthfully her godmother was not prepared to handle this broken lost child and pawned her off basically. Now there is a reason neither of us grew up with our bio logical father. Unfortunately he has become extremely verbally abusive to her & I fear he may get physical. He wants her in a group home. I fear if she goes to a group home she will only feel more rejected and rebel. Our dad doesnt have custody and i think i can get her mom on board with her staying with me. However idk if her social worker will be at this point because she looks like such a bad kid on paper. Im 21 i currently stay in a motel but i work. I will do w.e i have to though in order to have her
A:
Before I answer, you have my respect for your efforts to help your sister. From the sounds of it she clearly needs some love and support. I will go though each factor is short order, but you should be able to find a workable solution. You may need to contact an attorney. Also be aware that many county bars have legal assistance. Finally, the CO court website has forms and general guidance for everything I will discuss (link: https://www.courts.state.co.us/ --look under the "self help/forms" tab in the center of the page).
(1) Biological father. It is not clear if he has ceded all his parental rights, however if he has no custody he CANNOT dictate conditions on the welfare of your sister (the one exception is if you formally seek guardianship; if you do, you must provide notice unless he as ceded all of his parental rights.
(2) Biological mother. Normally, she should have solely custody and thus has considerable power in decide housing, etc. for you sister, but it appears your mother has granted guardianship to your grandmother. You very likely will need her consent (and certainly will need to give her notice) for guardianship.
(3) Grandmother. Depending on how the guardianship is structured, she may have most (or all) powers to decide/provide for your sister. Her consent will also be required, unless she is willing to terminate her prior guardianship.
--options: (1) informal transfer, if you can get your grandmother (and maybe mother) to consent to allow your sister to live with you is an option. You may not be required to provide notice or seek formal appointment as a guardian. The risk is that anyone (parents, guardians, and child services) can challenge the living situation under a best interest of the child standard. You should also be aware that you will have no legal control/rights over your sister.
(2) formally apply for sole or joint guardianship of your sister. This is the preferred choice because a court will review the decision and you will have legal (parental control) over some/all aspects of your sister. The one wrinkle is that a guardian must pass a background check (criminal, credit, and physical location). From your facts the greatest risk is that you don't have a permanent address (I know this is bulls**t, but the courts are worried you could disappear and endanger your sister...). That said, family courts 1st look for ideal home situations (married, white picked fence, etc...), but will return to less-than-ideal situations if that it is in the child's best interest (arguably applies here). You may be able to get around this hurdle by have joint guardianship with your grandmother.
Either way, the procedure is listed on the CO Courts webpage (under the self-help/forms look for "guardianship").
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