Q: How does my mother in law obtain emergency custody of her nephew she has had since birth and he is now a year and a half
My mother in law has had her nephew since he was born. He is now a year and a half and has permanently resided at her home. Every weekend or everyry other weekend the biological parents take him "to spend time with him". The baby has come back with high amounts of benadryl in his system. My mother in law takes him to his doctor appointments and everything. The parents have done nothing for him. The parents are both drug users. She has to let the baby go even though she is not comfortable with it because she has no legal rights to him. How would she go about filing for emergency custody? Today the mother took a whole bottle of pills in front of her children (she has 3 biological and 2 step) she was at her daughters birthday party when she took the pills. The daughter is livomg with and has lived with her grandparents since birth. The step children of the mother also reside with the grandparents.
A:
Guardianship. Grandmother cannot have any felony conviction. Must have suitable home with utilities and a good income. She can't have any miscreants in the home. No bad people can live there.
She could also call DHS. They will come out and look at the place and maybe give her custody. DHS is a double-edged sword. While they don't cost anything and will probably help her with custody, once the parents can pass a drug test DHS will give the child back to them.
Grandmother can also just adopt the child.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.