Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Intermediary custodialship of child before actual adoption

We have a mentally retarded cousin who has 2 children and

they live with their Aunt. the Aunt, my wife's mother, is

in poor health and is unable to take care of one of the

children, a five year old. The other child is 13 and the

retarded cousin are only capable of taking care of

themselves, again unable to fully take care of the five

year old. We had taken the young boy in to take care of,

and we wanted to adopt him, but got in financial straits.

Now we are at the time of enrolling in school and we are

in the position to adopt, but not in time for school. Can

we get a power of attorney to give us permission to enroll

him in school until we can get the adoption completed?

Does a POA have to go through the courts? And there is no

living legal guardian for the retarded mother, will this

cause us a problem?

Thanks.


Asked on 3/11/04, 11:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mary Ann Wunder Wunder & Wunder

Re: Intermediary custodialship of child before actual adoption

Your best bet is to file for the adoption and give the school a copy of your petition to let them know what is happening. You can use a power of attorney from the custodial parent for up to 60 days. If grandmother has a guardianship over the child, then you should apply to replace her as the guardian pending your adoption. If the mother, although retarded, has not been adjudicated incapacitated by the Courts since she became an adult, then she is competent to execute the power of attorney and necessary consents for both a guardianship and adoption. If she has bene adjudicated incapacitated, then there is guardian appointed over her who would have to sign in her stead. But going ahead with the adoption at this time would be your best option.

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Answered on 3/11/04, 1:26 pm


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