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I am a 22 yr old female. I have 3 younger sisters ages 4, 8, and 14. My parents split up, on bad terms, 6 months ago. My father used to be an alcoholic and my mother cheated on him years ago, which made things worse between them throughout the years. My mother managed to get into a women's refuge, got a restraining order against my father, got custody of my sisters, and divorced my father. Now the problem is, she is not taking good care of my sisters. While she works she has my 14 yr old sister take care of the younger ones. The court has already ordered that my sister can only look after them for a couple of hours, no more. My mother is also verbally abusive, I know this from experience. I also suspect that she doesn't prepare food for them when she's not home, and she spends most of her time talking to some guy she met online while ordering the oldest to clean. She makes the oldest take the kids to school and pick them up. I know they're miserable. How can I take custody of them?
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You can file a petition for guardianship with the probate clerk at your local courthouse. You can download the forms here http://www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm?filter=GC, or you can probably get a guardianship packet from your clerk (different counties handle this differently). The forms themselves are not that complicated but the process can be a bit difficult to manage on your own. You might consider consulting with an attorney in your area who handles these matters. In any case, when you do file you should request both temporary and general guardianship. You will want to write a strong declaration outlining all of your concerns and the abusive or neglectful behavior that supports your request. This will accompany your petition.
Please keep in mind that your mother will likely be furious once you file for guardianship. I say this only because if there is a way to help the children or to get your mother to agree without the need to expose her in this way you might try that first. I wish you the best of luck and commend your commitment to ensuring the safety of your siblings.
Answered on Feb 05th, 2016 at 1:10 PM