Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

can a teenage child choose to live elsewhere?

My daughter is 16 yrs old. In July I caught her sleeping with her boyfriend and rather than deal with the consequences she called my sister and claimed she was afraid of me and didn't want to be here. My sister came and took her the next day. She tried to take all three of my daughters but the younger two wouldn't go. The oldest claimed to her aunt that I was unstable and we lived in filth and she never wanted to return. At the end of the summer I gave her uncle Temporary Guardianship. With my mother's and other sisters advice I did this thinking the child would come to her senses and come home. (She hates the aunt she is living with and would have to be forced to visit her over the holidays every year. I sent her to stay there for a weekend the previous year and she said it was the worst punishment I could have ever given her.)

Now my sister has filed for custody of her. She will be 17 in December. What do I do? Will the courts just give her to them because of her age? is there any way to make them return her? I'm not even allowed to speak to her anymore, or email with her, or anything. The Uncle's Guardianship expired on 0ct 31, 2003. Please help


Asked on 11/22/03, 11:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Carolyn Press Chung & Press. P.C.

Re: can a teenage child choose to live elsewhere?

The temporary guardianship of your daugher which you relinquished to her uncle does not give him or your sister any right to keep you from contacting your daughter. You should retain a lawyer to represent you and oppose your sister's attempt to gain custody, regardless of what your daughter says, and be prepared to explain to the court the reason for the temporary guardianship. Unless your parental rights have been terminated because of extremely serious abuse or negligence or evidence of incompetence as a parent, you should win in court, even though your daughter is almost seventeen. Clearly your parental rights have not been terminated, and the law does not give your sister any right to take custody away from you.

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Answered on 11/24/03, 4:17 pm


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