Clarksville, TN asked in Criminal Law, Family Law and Child Custody for Tennessee

Q: Are there any documents can grant me permission to make legal decisions on my daughter's behalf?

My daughter has been incarcerated for a while and my 15 year old grandson has been in foster care since February 2020. I am a senior citizen and would like for him to come live with me. We have a court appointed attorney who is no help and refuses to share information! This man does not care how much stress I am under. I am afraid that my family is being railroaded in this situation because I am the one expected to do all the leg work, yet I do not have all the necessary information. I have searched through various Power of Attorney documents but none seem to grant me legal authority to make decisions for my daughter and grandson or be heard in court proceedings. Does such a document exist? What is it called?

2 Lawyer Answers

A: You would be wise to hire your own attorney to guide you through the custody process. There's no one document that a minor could sign to give you what you seek. Find an attorney--this is a good website to use.

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Answered

A: There are a couple of options: (1) you can petition the court for a legal guardianship over your grandson with your daughter's consent if her parental rights have not been terminated, or (2) you could petition the court for custody of your grandson, which could be done without your daughter's consent.

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