Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey

Re: Desire custody of sister - mother is sick

At some point you will have to file a petition in the circuit court of your county for appointment of yourself as guardian of your sister. Since a biological parent has priority over a sibling in these matters, it is important that you get the father's agreement that you should be appointed. As for the mother, you might want to await the outcome of her illness, or make sure the medical opinion is that her condition is a permanent one.

Re: Desire custody of sister - mother is sick

I would recommend that you first get the agreement of the child's father, in writing, and then petition the court for guardianship of her "person and property." Your chance of being appointed guardian if your her mother dies wil be sronger if you are alerady her guardian. Her father may recognize an incentive, if the mother dies, to try to regain custody and guardianship because the child will most likely be eligible to receive Social Security benefits which a drug addicted father would like to have control of. Also, the longer you have the child in your care, the better your chances would be of retaining guardianship if her mother dies and her father is incapable of providing care for her.

Re: Desire custody of sister - mother is sick

You refer to him as your stepdad. Is he also the stepdad to your sister or is he the biological father of her or did he adopt her. This is very important. If he's not the bio dad and he did not adopt her then you do not need his permission to become a guardian. If he is bio dad or he did adopt then your best bet is to get him to sign over guardianship to you and then you would petition the court for guardianship. That is the easiest way to proceed. However, you are not at his mercy. If he refuses not to sign consent then you can still petition that it is not in the best interest of your sister to be in his care and custody. He is not a fit and proper custodian.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at 301-652-0663 or 703-968-3974. Good luck to you and I wish more siblings were willing to step up to the plate and help others! Good for you.

Re: Desire custody of sister - mother is sick

You should attempt to get a written agreement from father to grant guardianship prior to filing in court.

As her father agrees to enroll her in a Md. school, by all

means, do this without delay. Leverage with getting a written guardianship agreement

to enroll her in school. The school may deny enrollment due to her lacking domicile in Maryland. To effect this, a written

guardianship agreement may be required. Tell Dad he needs to provide written guardianship

to legally enroll her into a Maryland school.

What Mom's prognosis? Since her husband may not be able to attend to her affairs, you should

file for her guardianship. You'll need letters from 2 doctors stating she is unable

to make decisions. Having this will certainly help later if he constests guardianship of your sister.

What are the charges that father faces? Is there a period of incaration? How long? These factors may work into him

agreeing to guardianship. If he is "going away", he could be convinced that it would be best to agree to your guardianship

and thereby avoid having your sister exposed to all the turmoil that he will be going through during his upcoming trial, etc. And,

you should convince him that it would be better to not disrupt her life when he does "go away" as she did nothing to cause the

situation.

Now as to his addiction. What is the addiction? What evidence do you have? Have there been prosecutions in this regard? If you have, at best,

weak evidence to support his addictive behavior (i.e., just your personal knowledge) then it may be very beneficial to

capture evidence now to support this. When he constests guardianship later, further investigation may be needed to corroborate that his

condition persists or has worsened. This may be expensive. Consider your choice of investigator carefully and make sure that you evaluate them

with an understanding that you may need their service again in the near future.

Are there issues with regard to keeping a house? Can you easily document unhealthful living conditions at father's home. This certainly will bolster

your case where it goes to court.

Of paramount importance is that you understand that the courts are going to be very reluctant to take custody away from a biological father and grant custody to a

sibling. Where he fights for custody, whether it be to spend your sister's Social Security benefits in the event that her Mom dies or to avoid paying child support or to

retain her as tax deduction, you will need to make a solid case that he is not fit for parental responsibilities--which he appears not to be--and that granting you guardianship is

in the best interest of your sister.

GOOD FOR YOU!! GOD BE WITH YOU!

DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this correspondence is intended to be legal advice and no inference thereof should be taken. When dealing with legal issues, the most prudent course of action is to

acquire services of an attorney.