Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

We want custody of our niece; Mother is Schizophrenic

My sister-in-law is a single mom, with schizophrenic-paranoid panic attacks and can't leave the house (1 or more times a week). More and more she is asking people to babysit her 5 year old daughter, and even recently asked her mom to watch her for ''the month of February so she can go see Nevada.'' Several boyfriends have come and gone, verbal fights in the home in front of the little girl. She still parties to get drunk and does marijuana occasionally.

My husband and I want the daughter (our niece). We've been married 7yrs have 2 little girls 4 & 5 already. It looks as though with gentle persuasion, perhaps she would give us guardianship so she can be ''free'' again, but we want peace and stability for the little girl. I don't want her yanked back into this world of chaos again on a whim. Should we seek full adoption? The father surrendered all parental rights 2 years ago. If she is officially diagnosed as Schizo/Paranoid, would her Dr have to call CPS? Are there forms we should have ready-to-go to get guardianship and does she have sign them? We'd like this to be a peaceful transition, but want the little girl out of this situation ASAP also. Thank you.


Asked on 10/26/02, 1:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Dorene Philpot Philpot Law Office

Re: We want custody of our niece; Mother is Schizophrenic

There are two possible routes here:

Get CPS involved and get the child removed from mom. Then stay involved in the CHINS case that ensues and push hard to be the guardian of the child.

Then when mom fails to do the services she's required to do, the state will move to terminate her parental rights, and you have the stage set for an adoption.

Another possible route is to just go file a petition for guardianship (which can be seen as temporary because it can be dissolved later) or a petition to adopt (which is permanent).

Hope this information helps.

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Answered on 10/26/02, 9:13 am


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