Lansing, MI asked in Adoption, Child Custody, Child Support, Contracts and Family Law for Michigan

Q: What would we need to do to have custody of our nephew for a while with consent from his father who has sole custody?

Father may go to set up place out of state and wants child taken care of while he makes sure about living arrangements and work. Childs mom is only allowed supervised visits if father agrees 1×/week. Mother is not a child in an adults body. We want to make sure that the mom cannot take custody of my nephew as he would not be safe. We want to make sure we can take care of his schooling and medical needs while he is with us.

1 Lawyer Answer
Benjamin Jeffrey Stoltman
Benjamin Jeffrey Stoltman
Answered
  • Flint, MI
  • Licensed in Michigan

A: What you are describing can either be accomplished through a delegation of parental authority (power of attorney) or through limited guardianship. A limited guardianship will take longer and will cost more, but offers Court oversight and protection if mom were to become an issue. A delegation of parental authority requires no court involvement, must be renewed every 6 months, and are often not understood (or enforced) by police if mom and her visitation become an issue. It is significantly faster and less expensive. You can also do both, getting the delegation of parental authority drawn up while you wait for the limited guardianship to go through the Court process.

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