Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey

My wife and I are Foster Adoptive parents. We are in the process of adopting a 4yo little girl who is "legally free". Her mothers rights were terminated and her father signed a identified surrender, otherwise his rights would have been terminated. Recently they had another little girl who is now 5 months old. DYFS removed her from the hospital and brought her to us at 6 days old, also tested positive for marijuana. Now the sisters are together. We have been informed that DYFS is working towards reunification with the father and will beginning unsupervised visits with the little girl. We have great stakes in this not only because she is "our little girl", but because her sister will soon be legally ours and this just opens the door for a lot of heartache and pain in the future.

My question is ...Isn't there a such thing as sibling rights and how is splitting these 2 girls up in the best interest of anyone.

Is there anything we can do or do we just have to sit back and watch?


Asked on 6/10/10, 3:59 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Jef Henninger, Esq Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq.

DYFS must "act towards reunification" but that does not mean that it will happen. I'd be happy to discuss this with you in more detail and to see if I can help. 732/773/2768

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Answered on 6/10/10, 7:13 am
Amy Klauber Klauber & Klauber, LLP

Unfortunately, parental rights supercedes the siblings rights to which you refer. Reunification may or may not occur and it will be up to you as the adoptive parents and the father of the other child if he does get reunified with her, to determine whether to allow visits between the siblings. I do quite a bit of DYFS work and would be happy to discuss this with you in further detail if necessary. My telephone number is 732-663-1500.

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Answered on 6/10/10, 8:25 am


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