Legal Question in Family Law in Maine

guardianship

I currently have guardianship of my granddaughter. My daughter, her mother, died last year and her father signed the guardianship papers at probate court. He was just getting out of jail and didnt have a home or job. He stayed out of jail 5 months and is currently in jail again. His mother and he have been talking about trying to get her back. She has gone through a lot of trauma from her mothers death and she is rebonded with me and has been with me since her birth in March 2002. It would be detrimental to her recovery (post traumatic stress) to be separated from me. Do I have any hope of ''not'' losing her to a father that has never been in her life. What can I do legally to keep this from happening. She is currently 26 months old and undergoing speech, occupational, and physical therapy.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Barb Roscoe


Asked on 5/01/04, 10:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jerome Gamache Ainsworth Thelin & Raftice, P.A.

Re: guardianship

Once a guardianship has been approved by the Court, it is the burden of the party who is moving to alter it to demonstrate why it is in the child's best interest to change the guardianship. There are temporary and long term guardianships. If yours is temporary, then you may have to deal with these issues when you seek to have the guardianship renewed or made long term. Perhaps the father and other side of the family is willing to agree to supervised visitation. It will be important to document the findings of the childs professional caregivers and use them as witnesses regarding the child's issues. It is likely that the Judge would welcome a guardian ad litem to assist with the case, so that the child's best interest is kept in focus.

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Answered on 5/03/04, 7:49 am


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