Q: Adopting my cousin, questions on what to do.
Long story short my cousin needs out of the situation she’s in. All of my family is either on drugs, alcoholics or men in and out of the house. She needs a safe secure space so she doesn’t end up like them. Everyone seems to be on board because they agree she needs a better life. How would I go about getting this done to where I have custody of her legally to enroll in school & medically. She lives in IL and I’m in TX. Can I just get a notarized paper since the person who has custody is agreeing or do I have to go through the court? Tia.
A: You will need to go through the court in IL where she lives if she is under 18 years of age.
A: Before anything could be filed in Texas the child would have to be her for a minimum of 6 months. If everyone is in agreement, I would suggest start with getting a power of attorney for parental rights to get her to Texas. With the POA you could take care of getting her in school and medical, but it would be able to be revoked if the person with custody changes their mind about the situation. If that is before the 6 months is up you would have to file something in IL and I could not advise on what the law would be in that state.
A: The child would need to live with you for 6 months in Texas before you can adopt her in Texas. The first step is to get her living with you. The parents would need to sign a power of attorney granting you guardianship over here in order for her to live with you and for you to be able to enroll her in school etc. while the adoption is pending. It’s imperative that you start the adoption process as soon as possible because it can take some time to go through all the steps needed to complete the adoption.
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