Can I Get Guardianship of My Little Sister

[TheChellieShow]

My question involves guardianship in the State of: Ohio
I want to obtain gaurdianship over my 15 year old little sister. She is the youngest of my three sisters. She is severly neglected due to my second youngest sister (21) who has a 3 year old that our mother is raising. My parents "seperated" (wern't living together for 4+ months last year because my father is abusive.) & there are poliece records of my father hitting my 15 year old sister. She is being physically, mentally, & emotionally abused by both parents. She does not recieve support of any kind from eithor of them. She is constantly in trouble, with them & school & her grades are falling. Since both our parents work, she gets off the school bus at my apartment. She does her homework & always helps me around the house. (She is not the tormented little girl who calls me from our parent's house bawling!) I feel she is in a horrible situation. I love both my parents greatly, but I feel it would be in my sister's best interest to live with me. **How can I get granted gaurdianship over my sister in the state of ohio? (I have already searched Emancipation Laws in Ohio: I am aware there are only two options; legal mairage & millitary service. This is my last hope. Please help me help my little sister!

[jk]

rather than going through having to prove your mother unfit (which is going to be very difficult and if you do, it jeopardizes the other child in her household as well), how about asking your mother if your sister can stay with you.

you have to also understand that if you somehow proved your mother unfit, your father would then end up with custody. So where are you then?

[TheChellieShow]

The only other minor in my parents' home is my 21 yr. old sisters' daughter. My parents' live together but my father can't get custody of my little sister because of abuse files on him. (I have nooo idea why my mother went back to him!) I have already brought up the idea of my sister living with me... my mother is a devout Christian & I consider my self Atheist... (BIG problem there!) My father is, for lack of a better word, "incoherent" to anything NOT involving work or deer hunting. Honestly, any time I have brought up my little sister to him he calls her “a little ungrateful b*tch” , then rants about all the things he deems “wrong” with her! It breaks my heart with what she is going through, but my parents are literally blind to what is happening. Would I need BOTH parents to sign over guardianship to me?

[jk]

Would I need BOTH parents to sign over guardianship to me?

are the parents married? is there any custody order in place if they are not married or if they are legally separated? I am not sure about your fathers situation. You state he cannot get custody of your sister but unless the courts have actually stated that, he still would be the default custodian of your mother could not be the custodian.

and the young child is who I was referring to. If your mom and dad are not stable enough to have your sister in the home, the home is not fit for an even younger child either. While your mother or father are not the guardians of the grandchild, their actions could surely be a problem with the grandchild staying there.

[TheChellieShow]

Yes. My parents are married. At the time my mother temporarily moved out last year because of my fathers’ abuse; they were told by the police that if they did ‘officially’ separate my mother would have custody, but if my father continued to abuse her & my mother didn’t take action to protect my sister she could be placed in temporary foster care OR temp. guardianship granted to a relative. (me.) Because my mother is VERY submissive to my father & didn’t want to lose my sister, she simply stopped reporting him!

I understand about my niece. Obviously if my parents can’t take care of a 15 yr. old a 3 yr. old would be out of the question. But now this puts me (& my sister in a worse position.) My sister with the 3 yr. old is amidst custody/visitation battles with the father! So my trying to get guardianship over my little sister would greatly hurt my other sisters’ case! My basic understanding now is that my only option is to convince my parents (or mother) to grant me guardianship correct??

**Just a side note: My mother will not allow my little sister to go to a Career Center to ‘better herself’ because the other sister got pregnant while going there! I just don’t think it’s fair to punish the youngest daughter for the older daughters’ mistakes! Maybe I just need advice on how to get thought to them! All my attempts seem to come through as calling them (mostly my mother) “bad parents”… which I am not, I just don’t think my little sister is getting the opportunities or support she needs!

[jk]

My mother will not allow my little sister to go to a Career Center to ‘better herself’ because the other sister got pregnant while going there!

wow, just what kind of careers are they training the kids for now-a-days?

just kidding.

I would have a hard time seeing a connection unless she became pregnant while physically at the school. That would show a lack of concern and a lack of security within the school and in that case, I might understand your mom's position. Other than that, not sure how she relates the two.

basically, from what you have said, it would be your parents against you. You honestly would have a very large hurdle to overcome and yes, in doing so you could injure your sisters situation.

rather than trying to get outright legal guardianship, if there is a lot of problems in the house, why not simply offer to let sis stay with you with the idea that that may help reduce the tensions. Obviously that will not give you any legal autonomy but it is a start. It would give sis an opportunity to focus on her direction rather than having to try to make things bearable in the home she is in now.

[TheChellieShow]

jk,

thank you, but I have tried having her stay with me. And she does, sometimes... she gets off the bus at my house, sleeps at home but stays with me most weekends. About my sister with the child, honestly, I think my mother blames herself. My sister went to that Career School for Nursing (the school is about an hour away) & my mother allowed her to move in with her boyfriend (at the time) & his parents who lived in the city! SO there is NO logical connection between the school & my sister getting pregnant! It was just a bad judgment call on my mothers' part... maybe that is why she doesn't want my little sister living with me. But I still feel it is wrong for her to suffer for our mistakes. (the big sisters) I just absolutely hate that she is being treated so horribly & there is seemingly nothing I can do about it! No offense to the older generation, but it probably doesn’t help either that my parents have already raised 3 daughters & now have to deal with a teenager at their age. My dad just turned 62! He is the same age as my friends’ grandparents! (I’m 25!) I think my parents are just tired, but don’t want to ‘give up’ my sister because in their eyes it would mean, in my mothers‘ words, “admitting we are bad parents”. (I’m not saying she is but if my father hits my sister that, to me, is not exactly ‘good’ parenting!)

[jk]

I understand and you are in a tough situation. If dad is physically abusive, then you would have a good argument. The problem is (and no, I do not support ignoring violence but reality is a huge limitation sometimes), you would have to seek to prove there is violence. Chances are dad will end up in jail. Then, if he is in jail, unless mom is equally not able to care for the girl, sis is still with mom unless mom let's her stay with you.

It is very difficult to remove a child from the parental household. The courts like to see children raised by their parents and the courts do recognize that the real world is nothing like the Cleaver household (a reference to an old show called "Leave it to Beaver")


basically, about all you can do is support sis as best you can and help guide her through the turmoil. Sometimes that is enough to allow enough breathing room to maintain her sanity.

along with offering your sis a reprieve from the turmoil, this actually allows you to help your sister improve things in mom and dad's household. I would strongly urge you to find positives in mom and dad. If sis is so focused on only the negatives, the relationship will likely never improve. You have to find a bright point where the relationship can move to. It will help make it better for all.