Legal Question in Juvenile Dependency in California

Re: Legal Guardianship

You have rights, which will be significantly weakened if you son "relinquishes" his parental rights.

Assuming your son's rights are not "relinquish" his rights, you can petiion the court to have the children placed with you or any other blood relative. Despite the wishes of the social work, relatives have preference for placment of children which have been placed out of the custody of their parents. The problem arises because relatives are not "automatically" recognized by the juvenile court (even if the relatives are known by the social workers). You must understand the social workers are SEPARATE from the juvenile court judges.

The relatives, usually should, and in your case, MUST retain an experienced attorney and file the following documents:

1. Motion for defacto status

2. 388 petition to have children placed with relatives

3. And in some cases, a petition for temporary and permanent legal guardianship.

These legal documents should be prepared carefully by your attorney citing the appropriate facts and law to support your requests. The attorney should also be familiar with and experienced with the resulting contested hearings or trials which may be the result of the filing of these documents.

If you have any furher questions, please contact me directly at my office number (which I cannot give you here, so please call telephone information).