When Are Children Considered to be Abandoned

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

My Aunt recently came to live with my mother. She was living with her daughter, daughters boyfriend, and children. The daughter and boyfriend got in fight, so they all came to live with my mother; My aunt, her daughter and children. Daughter immediately got back with boyfriend, in North Carolina, and left my aunt and kids in Tennessee. The children are happy, stable, enrolled in school for the past 3 weeks. Life with the mother, for them, was traumatic and there are stories to go along with that, of course. My question is... Mother came back to visit once since she left a month ago. Is it abandonment yet? Can they file for emergency custody?

No, it's not abandonment.

It's THREE WEEKS ... not three years or even three months.

It is not "abandonment" to leave your children in a safe, appropriate environment with people who have agreed to care for them.

I'm not sure who "they" are, as you're all over the place with relationships, but "they" can start by asking the children's parents about their future plans -- perhaps the parents will be agreeable to continuing the status quo, or will consent to a guardianship. Once they have that information, they can start thinking about their next step.

Yeah... So immediately regret posting. Is was a short and simple summary of a complex situation, as are most family law cases. I'm not sure why this question was responded to with such judgment. If you needed further detail I would gladly have provided you with that, instead of you all assuming. And again, was a short and simple summary my apologies if you couldn't keep up. I am a mother myself and would NEVER want to separate child from parent, UNLESS I thought said children were being traumatized by parent..which they were. Not sure which state or which laws you are use to dealing with, but I can gaurentee you if I left my children in a different state bc my boyfriend at the moment decided he didn't want children in his house and I choose to stay with him and stay complete out of my mind messed up on drugs constantly... That would be considered abandonment. If my children weren't allowed to go outside to play, have been moved from house to house, school to school, man to man...someone would SURELY take my child. The mothers "future plans" involve surviving however possible without getting a job..so I'm pretty sure I can tell how that will go. But anyways, sorry, I thought this was a site for legitimate legal advice...not criticism from the peanut gallery. Lol. Y'all need a hobby.

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Quoting Kerinana

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

My Aunt recently came to live with my mother. She was living with her daughter, daughters boyfriend, and children. The daughter and boyfriend got in fight, so they all came to live with my mother; My aunt, her daughter and children. Daughter immediately got back with boyfriend, in North Carolina, and left my aunt and kids in Tennessee. The children are happy, stable, enrolled in school for the past 3 weeks. Life with the mother, for them, was traumatic and there are stories to go along with that, of course. My question is... Mother came back to visit once since she left a month ago. Is it abandonment yet? Can they file for emergency custody?

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If mom left the children with someone who agreed to take care of them knowing mom would be gone for a while - be it to hook up with a boyfriend, go on vacation, or whatever - then it is not abandonment. If mom took off on a bender without any notice, then CPS might be willing to accept emergency custody of the children pending assigned placement.

A summary of what I have read is that this would not be sufficient for abandonment in TN. It appears that TN law defines abandonment as a parent's deliberate failure to visit or provide financial support for his or her child for a period of four successive months. Even if such grounds are proven, the court must still determine whether termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child. This is no easy task.

If family feels that the children are at risk with mom, or have been neglected or abused, they can contact child services and/or the police.

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Quoting Kerinana

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Yeah... So immediately regret posting. Is was a short and simple summary of a complex situation, as are most family law cases. I'm not sure why this question was responded to with such judgment. If you needed further detail I would gladly have provided you with that, instead of you all assuming. And again, was a short and simple summary my apologies if you couldn't keep up. I am a mother myself and would NEVER want to separate child from parent, UNLESS I thought said children were being traumatized by parent..which they were. Not sure which state or which laws you are use to dealing with, but I can gaurentee you if I left my children in a different state bc my boyfriend at the moment decided he didn't want children in his house and I choose to stay with him and stay complete out of my mind messed up on drugs constantly... That would be considered abandonment. If my children weren't allowed to go outside to play, have been moved from house to house, school to school, man to man...someone would SURELY take my child. The mothers "future plans" involve surviving however possible without getting a job..so I'm pretty sure I can tell how that will go. But anyways, sorry, I thought this was a site for legitimate legal advice...not criticism from the peanut gallery. Lol. Y'all need a hobby.

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You clearly have no idea how any of this works ...

... including the ability to read and comprehend plain English.

You're wrong in so many ways.

Love.

Quote:

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Quoting Kerinana

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Yeah... So immediately regret posting. Is was a short and simple summary of a complex situation, as are most family law cases. I'm not sure why this question was responded to with such judgment. If you needed further detail I would gladly have provided you with that, instead of you all assuming. And again, was a short and simple summary my apologies if you couldn't keep up. I am a mother myself and would NEVER want to separate child from parent, UNLESS I thought said children were being traumatized by parent..which they were. Not sure which state or which laws you are use to dealing with, but I can gaurentee you if I left my children in a different state bc my boyfriend at the moment decided he didn't want children in his house and I choose to stay with him and stay complete out of my mind messed up on drugs constantly... That would be considered abandonment. If my children weren't allowed to go outside to play, have been moved from house to house, school to school, man to man...someone would SURELY take my child. The mothers "future plans" involve surviving however possible without getting a job..so I'm pretty sure I can tell how that will go. But anyways, sorry, I thought this was a site for legitimate legal advice...not criticism from the peanut gallery. Lol. Y'all need a hobby.

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No one judged you. Chill out. They commented based on your post - and you said that the mom has only been gone three weeks. Three weeks is not a long enough time period to consider abandonment. At all. Especially if they're being taken care of. No one assumed anything either.

If you know so much about your state laws on abandonment why are you posting on this page? You obviously don't know anything which is why you came here. It is not considered abandonment if you leave your children in the care of someone else for three weeks.

So when I have to go to school for the Army for six weeks and leave my daughter with my family am I abandoning her? Based on your odd "logic" I am.

Here are some examples of abandonment in Tennessee:

It takes a very high threshold of evidence to terminate parental rights due to abandonment. There has to be proof that the parents made no attempts to visit or support the child even when the parent was able to do so and had no real reason to not do so. Or if the parent is incarcerated for up to four months prior to the action that declares the abandonment or if the parent poses a threat to the child's welfare.

Or newborns under the age of 72 hours who are left at a hospital or other facility with no contact from the mother for 90 days are abandoned.

Here's the Tennessee law: https://www.tn.gov/sos/acts/100/pub/Pubc0253.HTM

"(1)(A) "Abandonment" means, for purposes of terminating the parental or guardian rights of parent(s) or guardian(s) of a child to that child in order to make that child available for adoption, that:

(i) For a period of four (4) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of a proceeding or pleading to terminate the parental rights of the parent(s) or guardian(s) of the child who is the subject of the petition for termination of parental rights or adoption, that the parent(s) or guardian(s) either have willfully failed to visit or have willfully failed to support or make reasonable payments toward the support of the child;"

SO by your state's very own definition she has NOT abandoned them because it has only been three weeks. Google is an amazing tool.