How to Seek Third Party Custody After the Death of a Parent

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Ohio

My sister passed away and my 18yr old niece is seeking custody of my 6 yr old nephew. We offered to take him in, but the family overruled us. My niece has a 28 yr old BF she's been living with for 2yrs. She never finished HS or got her drivers license; she was a troubled teenager that suffered mental issues, probation and house arrest. Her and her BF have moved 5-6 times in 2 yrs, neither has kept steady employment and they have his 4yr old most of the time. My nephew has never had stability either. His mom moved at least 4 times in his life, no steady employment and there was drug activity in the home.

They were staying with us so they could enroll my nephew in school and save money for a place, but things started getting tense. The BF wouldn't help out and then quit his job. My nephew became really attached. It got to where he didn't want to leave with them or stay with them when we left. He would ask us if we'd be here forever. We asked him what he meant and he said live here. He then told us he wanted to live with us. Well this past week they up and moved out, while we were at work, without letting us say goodbye. We don't know where they are and they won't let us see him. There are concerns of emotional trauma and manipulation.

It's doubtful we'll get legal representation; but we want to challenge her for custody. We don't want to hurt her, we want her to have a chance at bettering her life also. Our main concern though is his well being. The biological father denied paternity and had no contact in 5yrs.

What will the court be likely to take into consideration in this unusual case? Since she has him do we have a chance? We have steady employment, housing and keep our children active with extracurricular activities.

Are there presently any court orders in effect relating to guardianship?

No. There is a custody hearing set in mid Oct, but I was told we can't do anything except file ourselves and notate that case number.

Where is the boys father?

No one knows his location. There have been postings through the court, but no current address to mail service to. Even at that is doubtful he'd take custody. He denied paternity.

So he's not on the birth certificate

Yes it is.

I don't see a judge giving your niece custody. But anyone that wants custody will have to fiind the.father and get his permission. If yhr can't be found an ad will have to be put in the paper asking for his whereabouts.

You need to file for custody. How long has your sister been dead? Out of curiosity does the child receive and payments from SSA since his mother is deceased? I'm thinking this may be the main reason for her trying to get custody.

My niece already started the process of locating him through the courts. They gave the option to run an ad or post notices in the court house and BMV for the county.

She passed away in mid July. The appointment has been set for the SS; however my other sister in law put that in motion. She has an affidavit from the biological father of the other two siblings. It's a really complicated situation. I don't think my niece is doing it for the money. It's more of my sister in law pushed for her to keep him. She had said twice she'd let us get custody, but was talked out of it. I think grief is also coming into play. She's 18, but mentally and emotionally she is still a teenager.

You need an attorney. Even though there is a slim to zero chance of your niece getting custody. It may be necessary to prove her mental state. Hopefully she is seeing a.mental health professional and there are medical records.

How many children did your sister have? Do they have the same father as the 6 year old?

There are four children. Three different father's. The middle two have the same dad. He is in the military and they already worked out the guardianship in relation to them.

The oldest is my niece who is seeking custody of the youngest.

We wish we could afford a lawyer. We make just enough to keep our house going and make sure our kids can do the activities they like. This year was a vacation year; every couple of years we try to do that with the kids. We just don't have the savings for a retainer and my legal plan won't cover this type of case. We're an average middle class family.

On a side note though we feel very strongly about this. We want to do everything possible to give him a chance at a better life. Every child deserves the best possible opportunities. He's been dealt a rough lifeand we hope to turn a bad situation into something positive.

If your sister worked long enough to have enough work.credits for survivors benefits they will be evenly divided between the minor children. So there may not be enough money from that, if any, to help you raise him. If not then someone else will need to step up

You can call legal aid and see if they can help or refer you to a pro bono attorney

Legal aid will no longer provide attorneys for custody. At least that is what the lawyer I spoke to said. We make too much for assistance, but just enough to get by comfortably. We honestly don't care about any money he may receive. We can afford another child. We just had one graduate and move out. We just don't have the upfront funds for a lawyer. I hope that makes sense.

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Quoting wrdsck

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No. There is a custody hearing set in mid Oct, but I was told we can't do anything except file ourselves and notate that case number.

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This would be a guardianship petition? Don't make us guess -- who filed the petition and who is filing to be guardian? Where is your niece presently living with the child, and is it a suitable environment for the child?

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Quoting Mercy&Grace

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But anyone that wants custody will have to fiind the.father and get his permission.

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No, sorry, that is not correct. While the petitioner in the guardianship case will have to make a diligent effort to serve dad, his lack of interest in or contact with his children following their mother's death will be something that a court can consider when determining whether or not he should be the custodian; and if he cannot be located or chooses not to respond to the court proceedings the court will award guardianship to somebody else.

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Quoting Mercy&Grace

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Even though there is a slim to zero chance of your niece getting custody.

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If the niece is the only petitioner, and she can offer a suitable household, then her chances are anything but slim.

If you want to be appointed guardian, you will need to file a petition in the court where guardianship proceedings are presently pending, such that the court can choose between you and the present petitioner as possible caregivers. If you choose not to do so, the court will not be in a position to consider you.

Franklin County has a summary of the guardianship procedure here; you may be able to find similar information on your county court's website.

This case has been filed through juvenile court as a complaint for custody. My niece started the paperwork. A guardianship request would have been through probate.

We do not know where they are living. My niece stated they were back in the trailer park where my sister died, but we're not sure. We've attempted to set up times to see him, but keep getting the run around. The rest of the extended family doesn't believe it's best for him, but will not take responsibility either way. As for actual conditions all we know is neither was working, they didn't have furniture and wasn't saving money. We honestly aren't sure if they even got their own place or moved in with someone else. We've considered calling CPS since they had some involvement early on. We know who the caseworker is. We just hoped that we'd get to access the situation without it coming to that.

The way we understand it is if we file it'll go to pre-trial on the date already set. Mediation my be ordered and then if an agreement isn't reached it'll go to trail. We Honestly don't want to hurt our niece. She's had a rough life also, but she's old enough to make her own choices about what she wants for her life. My nephew is too young. We see alot of moving around, instability and emotional trauma occuring.

Can me and my wife file jointly against her? The paperwork only had space for one petitioner?

You will either petition to intervene and ask to be made the child's custodians, or you won't petition to intervene and won't be considered.

If dad hasn't been located, and has been 'served' by mail upon a former address and by public posting without his responding, there won't be much to mediate -- if there's only one person seeking custody, and dad's nowhere to be found, there's nobody else for the court to consider.

Yes, you and your spouse can jointly petition for custody. We don't know what form you are looking at, but if you look (for example) at the third party forms prepared by Lucas County they anticipate that there may be more than one petitioner.