My sister has two children. Their father is in jail for a long time. For a while she left her two children in their fathers cousin's care until she got her life together and found a place to stay. One was with one cousin and the other was with another. She signed papers for the younger one and put him in the cousin's custody. She found out that they were not being taken care of like they should be so she picked them up one day for good. Now the two cousin's are threatening to beat her up if she doesn't let them see the kids.They have been harassing her a lot lately and she wants to get a restraining order. My question is do they have any rights?Will they be able to get visitation rights for the kids?They might even try to get the fathers mother involved so she could try to get it also?Can she or anyone else get visitation rights without the mothers consent?
Answers:
There are several elements to this question that have not yet been shared. My first question would be, what was the original custody situation after the birth of each child? Were the mother %26 father married, with both names on each birth certificate? I do not care if you were married or not; however that can play a part in custody.
You've said that she signed 'papers'; however what were they? Were they notarized? Signed by a judge? What?
It would be my guess that since she at some point had to get her life together that the proper legal requirements were not followed; however I could be wrong.
If she in fact did give up her parental rights of either or both children, then the cousins may just have something. If it was more or less a handwritten document between the 2 people, then it becomes a bit more suspect.
Do the cousins that were taking care of the children actually love them, but do not have the knowledge of how to properly raise children OR is there some sort of financial benefit to whomever takes care of these children? If this is the case who is truly the better caregiver for these children?
It all sounds very unfortunate as I do understand what your sister had tried to do; however please provide more answers regarding this situation.
Irrespective of all of this, whether or not the grandmother gets involved is irrelevant the legal custody of those children needs to be proven or re-established.
As far as the threats go, it is illegal to threaten the harm of another and she should report these taunts/threats. The children is a civil matter and cannot be handled by the police - do not make this their issue.
Find a court services officer or someone that can best direct your sister on these matter in the state that she lives in..
I wish you well!
Wow - sounds like a charming family.
I bet they all met at a NASCAR event. (Or a "Larry the Cable Guy" concert).
No, the cousins have no rights, and if I were her I would not want those who were treating my children badly to see them! They certainly have no right to visitation, nor will they ever get an order from any court giving them that right!
Some states allow Grandparents visitation rights, though I question the legality of that!
Signed papers mean nothing except to provide the children medical care and a person to sign school papers. They do not take the rights of the mother away, and essentially mean nothing when the mother revokes them. Those done in court might be another matter as the court would have the say over whether the mother is capable of providing proper parental care!
To me it sounds as if she did the right thing! Though I don't know if I would not let the cousins visit if the children were old enough to express their wishes!
I don't know why people give me the thumbs down when what I am saying is a fact based on 16 years of investigating child abuse and 27 years in Child Protection for a state!! Is it you don't like to hear facts, or just disagree with the law? You really make me wonder how your mind works. It may not be what you want to hear, but that is the way it IS!
How many of you have EVER investigated a case of child abuse, just 1. I have done over 3,000!
The cousin that took the child that she signed papers for, and the paternal grandmother may have a leg to stand on. Your sister should see an attorney right away and get legal advice appropriate for her state. . She should also get a restraining order. If she starts legal action before they do, it will better her case.
No one else has rights visitation or other wise, unless it's in the divorce paper's. Also most states do not have the so called grandparent's right's. The cousins are well up turd creek.
But may be an idea to get a lawyer just in case.
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