Change of Custody, Grandparents Filing for Guardianship
My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Michigan
My step-daughters mother has been in and out of legal trouble since Jan. 08. She had commited a felony, claimed drug abuse (which she does have a problem with), went into rehab (not of her own free will) left the program early, put on probation, failed 5 drug tests then was sentenced to the rsat program. Recently she violated the program and was sentenced to 255 days in county jail. We knew about her legal drama and when we found out that my step-daughter was staying at her grandparents house, we filed for a change of custody. That was in Apiril 08. In August we discovered that she was back in jail, we went to the f.o.c and took an exparte order in to them to take custody of the child. They said that the judge would not "entertain the idea" but offered to get us a hearing for extended parenting time. Now in the meantime, we still have this f.o.c investigation for change of custody going. Our hearing for the extended parenting time is next week (23rd) and we found out on Friday that my step-daughters grandparents are going for a guardianship on her. My question is, is there any way that they can get the child while we have an open change of custody case going? We feel that the friend of court is dragging their feet on this case. How can they legally do this when we have an open case? Should we be worried? Oh yeah, we've been doing this without an attorney and I feel that if we had the money ($3000) we would've already had custody. Please, We need help and peace of mind
Re: Change of Custody, Grandparents Filing for Guardianship
You need to be more clear about your circumstances. Normally a step-parent has no rights to a step-child, and no standing to bring an action for custody. Exceptions apply, particularly in California, but most states are pretty stingy with step-parent rights.
How is it that you have a custody case involving a step-child? (It sounds like what may have happened is that you tried to file one and the judge handling the guardianship said "no dice, you're a step-parent, but I'll consider giving you some visitation through the guardianship proceedings while we figure out what's going on.") Or are you saying "custody" when you mean "guardianship", with the goal of being made the child's guardian instead of the grandparents?
Where's the biological father, and what's his position on this?
I don't fault you for this, but you don't seem to understand what is going on in court, what your rights are, or the limits of what you can achieve. We don't even know what legal actions have been filed in court and, other than the guardianship, what actions remain pending. You need a lawyer. Check out these resources.
Re: Change of Custody, Grandparents Filing for Guardianship
When I said "we", I meant myself and my husband who is the biological father. We have come this far without an attorney, but do have one that is advising us. We found out today, that because my husband has joint legal custody, the grandparents and the mother has to prove that he is unwilling, unable and unfit to raise his daughter. They also neglected to tell the probate judge that we have an open change of custody case going. They are most likely going to dismiss their petition for guardianship.