Legal Question in Family Law in New York
Guardianship
I have an 11year old,she lives with uncle,which thinks he has guardianship.I was going though ruff time in life so he was takeing care of her now i want her back to live with me and he refuses what r my rights? he wont even let her visit over night...
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Guardianship
As a parent and absent a showing of unfitness, you have a superior right to the custody of your child over anyone else.
You can go to court and enforce your custodial rights.
Daniel Clement
Re: Guardianship
There is a lot I don't know about your situation, so I can't really give you any definitive answers. However, if your uncle won't let you see your child, you should go to Family Court and file a custody petition.
Re: Guardianship
The "critical aspect", or core question, is WHY does the uncle 'think' he has guardianship.
If there was, in fact, a petition / proceeding in either Surrogate's Court or Family Court that granted the uncle guardianship, you will likely have to work from / work with the procedures necessary to amend / revise / set aside that proceeding.
So - - the first order of business for you to attend to is to determine whether, in fact, there was such a proceeding &, if so, equip yourself with copies of all the pertinent papers.
Then you will have a better idea of where to begin. It *is* possible that you could try to 'unwind' this in the Family Court, starting out with the ever-helpful intake clerks; but if there was an earlier proceeding, you are going to have to 'confront' that.
Good luck.
Regards, etc.,
J. M. Hayes
>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<