QUESTION
How hard would it be to get custody of my nephew?
Asked on Sep 26th, 2012 on Child Custody - Oklahoma
More details to this question:
My nephews parents divorced when he was a year old. Neither one have seen him since he was 3 years old and he is 6 now. His mother was getting supervized visitation with him and stopped showing up to them. Eight months later his father moved out of my parents house and left my nephew with them and me. There have been no phone calls, gifts, visits, money, letters or anything from either parent in the past three years. I'm not even sure where either of them are at now. How hard would it be for me to get custody of my nephew?
1 ANSWER
Normally for a non-parent to obtain custody of a child, it is necessary to prove the parents are affirmatively unfit, which you should be able to do, based upon the history of abandonment. third party custody is by definition and constitutional law "temporary." This means the court must state what factors have rendered the parents afffirmatively unfit, and what steps the parents must take to remedy their unfitness. When they have remedied the deficits, they are entitled to regain custody when it is in the best interests of the child, for example when they have reintroduced themselves into the child's life and the child is comfortable being in their unsupervised care.
It will be necessary to serve papers on the parents for the court to enter a custody order. Accordingly, you will need to find them as part of this process.
Answered on Sep 27th, 2012 at 10:38 AM