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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    1

    Default Grandmother Denied Custody of a Grandchild She Cared For

    My question involves guardianship in the State of: Missouri

    My mother has cared/supported the 6-year old child of my nephew since she was born. At one time when my nephew was in jail, he and his wife (the child's mother) gave my mother legal guardianship. My nephew is now divorced and has sole custody of the child. His new girlfriend who has two children (one with my nephew) was arrested while she had one children with her. She called her father to pick him up. Then the police came to search her home and arrested my nephew. Child Services came to take the other two children who were at school. My mother explained to her that she had cared for the children. The Case worker would not allow my mother to keep the child she had cared for. My nephew had a notorized guardianship naming my mother as guardian but she did not recognize that because it had not gone through the courts. My nephew was released the next day (his girlfriend is still in jail) but she would not entertain letting my mother retreive the child from an individual whom she was placed. She was placed with the girlfriend's mother whom she had met on a couple of occasions but does not even really know.

    She never investigated my mother, any of our family or spoke with the child's teachers. Each time she gave a reason why my mother could not have the child, it was an untrue statement and she simply moved on the the next one once it was discounted.

    There evidently is now a warrant out for my nephew for parole violation (not paying enough money back to the state quickly enough). The case worker now says that no family member can visit the child until her dad turns himself in. We are not asking to take the child anywhere, just visit her in the home she is currently in. Is this permitted? It seems as though the child is being used as a law enforcement tool?

    How should we go about getting the child back into our home? The case worker will not even return any of our calls. I have taken it to her superior whom we have not heard anything from either.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Guardianship

    You're talking about your mother brandishing a notarized document to try to stop protective services from taking the children in emergency circumstances, as the custodial parent was being arrested? The outcome isn't really a surprise. They had no opportunity to investigate the situation and ensure that your mother's home was appropriate.

    So the father was arrested, the state took emergency custody, the father was relesed the next day... then what? He regained custody? He failed to regain custody? If the latter, Grandma petitioned to have the child placed with her? Grandma didn't petition? If the former, the children were again taken into custody because dad violated his parole?

    What does the visitation order say? If it says that only dad has visitation rights, then everybody else's rights come through dad unless and until a court holds otherwise.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: Guardianship

    I'm thinking this wasn't done through the courts in the first place..

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