Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Re: Legal Guardianship

No. First, only the court can grant guardianship of a minor child/children to someone other than the parents. At this point the court has granted temporary custody (read temporary guardianship) to DHS. You have two options. 1) Contact the DHS caseworker and ask to be a placement resource. As a relative they must consider you, but this does not mean they must place the child.children with you. You will need to cooperate with their certification procedures and their case plan. 2) File a petition to be appointed guardian in in the family law or probate division of the Circuit Court. You will need to serve that petition on DHS as well as the parents as well as the child/children if any are over the age of 14. You will need to also file a motion to consolidate the juvenile and guardianship proceedings. You will need an attorney to help you with option 2. You may not need an attorney with option 1.