Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Who gets custody of my daughter?
My husband's brother and his wife adopted our second daughter in 1995. My husband and I are separated, on our way to a divorce. I live with my mother and our other daughter in NJ. My in-laws still live together in MD. They have told me that if anything happens to them, I will get custody of my daughter back, but they have nothing legal in writing that I know of. My sister-in-law has family in MD, plus my father-in-law lives there to, but from what I hear, their homelives are not condusive to raising a child. What happens to my daughter if something happens to my in-laws? Do I have any rights to her at all?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Who gets custody of my daughter?
When your daughter was adopted by your husband's brother andhis wife, you relinquished any right to claim the child as yours. After the adoption the adoptive parents are the parents, and your biological relation to your daughter carries no weight. Unwritten promises by the adoptive parents of their family are pretty much worthless. If something happened to the adoptive parents (if they died) the court would have the final say in who could have guardianship of the child. You could file a claim to be guardian of your daughter, but if you do not have frequent and regular contact with her now it is very unlikely that she would be placed in your care.
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