Legal Question in Family Law in California
What Can We Do About This?
My sister has a 3 1/2 yr. old daughter who she hasn't had contact with in over a week. She dropped her off at our parents house to stay the weekend and never came back to pick her up. She hasn't called to see how her daughter is. This is not the firt time this has happened. My sister has a drug and alcohol problem and is also on state aid. My parents say if she ( my sister) doesn't come back for her by October 1st, they want to try to get guardianship of my neice. My question is how do we go about doing this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: What Can We Do About This?
they file a petition in the superior court.
Re: What Can We Do About This?
There are a couple of ways in which your parents could get custody of your niece. The first is to go to probate court and petition for guardianship of the person. However, be prepared to have evidence that it is in the child's best interest that the grandparents are named guardians. The courts are reluctant to break up families. The second way is to go into juvenile court and get the Dept. of Children and Family Services involved. The second way would probably be the fastest, but can also be very hard on families. Either way, your parents may want to hire an attorney to discuss which avenue would be best in their situation.