Guardianship and visitation

**mrtnz243** · 01-31-2007, 12:09 AM

I'm twenty three years old and I live in California. I have temporary guardianship of my three nieces. They have lived with my fiance and I for five months now, during which time we have had no contact with their birth parents. We are going to court right now for permanent guardianship in March. When we notified the parents that we were seeking permanent guardianship they showed up to a court hearing that they knew had been continued and stated that they wanted to contest the guardianship and have visitation with their kids.
The kids are frightened of them, and have begun telling us that their birth parents would hit them in the face, lock them in closets, not feed them, and would not allow them to shower regularly, they also missed at least 17 days of school every school year (the oldest is in third grade) and last school year they missed over a month of school. Their birth parents are admitted meth addicts (who claim they are clean, but have not been to any kind of rehab). The father is an alcoholic who has a history of domestic violence. When we received the kids they were infested with lice, didn't own tooth brushes or hair brushes, and had numerous medical and dental problems. We are suppose to go to mediation before we go to court in March, but is it likely that the court will force the kids to see their birth parents given this new information?
Also they have a 10 month old brother that is still with the birth parents, is it possible to get him out of that household? The mother is also 7 or 8 months pregnant now, is their a way to have the hospital hold the baby until the parents prove to be fit?
thanks so much for your help!

**aaron** · 01-31-2007, 06:03 AM

It is common for courts to grant visitation to the parents while their children are under a guardianship. If the court appears inclined to grant visitation, you can always ask that it be supervised.

You can try initiating guardianship proceedings involving the infant, and the baby when it is born. You may wish to involve child protective services.

**mrtnz243** · 01-31-2007, 10:48 AM

Is it possible to terminate parental rights of the birth parents based on the abuse, neglect, lack of communication, domestic violence and history of drug and alcohol abuse?

**seniorjudge** · 01-31-2007, 10:54 AM

Q: Is it possible to terminate parental rights of the birth parents based on the abuse, neglect, lack of communication, domestic violence and history of drug and alcohol abuse?

A: Yes. Talk to the juvenile office or child protective services to find out how to go about doing this.