Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
granddaughet in fostercare is being placed for adoption
my son had a child out of wedlock paternity has been established. child lived with mother. cps was called and they took custody of child. they did not contact my son until after the child was placed in fostercare. childs mother made false allegations of drug and alcohol abuse against my son. he volunteered to take drug tests and passed all. the court wants hime to undergo parenting class and continue drug tests. this will cause a financial hardship for hime and his family. he has two other daughters and a wife to support. now the court system is placing the child up for adoption. how can they do this. she can't live with me and my husband of 24yrs because of a domestic violence incident 10yrs ago. my son wants custody of his daughter and i want to be a part of her life. what can we do. money for a lawyer is slim to none.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: granddaughet in fostercare is being placed for adoption
Without knowing more, I can only say that he should resist the termination of his parental relationship. Putting a case together to effect that is what is complicated, and why many people retain attornies to do that. The interest that the state will assert is the best interest of the child, but that does not mean that even a less than perfect parent can't have "custody" of their child. In any event the court should appoint counsel if your son can not afford an attorney, (relationship of parents to child is recognized as a fundamental right), he may have to ask for appointed counsel to get the appointment.