While there is no reason you cannot petition the court for permanent custody now, if you wait until January you can tell the court that you have successfully passed the one year mark and it is in your grandson's best interest to stay with you to ensure his stability. Be prepared to document your position with school reports, etc. It is also a good idea to keep a record of anything going on in the visits. The longer you successfully parent your grandchild on a temporary basis, the more likely it is that the arrangement will become permanent. Another strategy may be to wait until after the baby is born and ask for both children. If your daughter has a history of drug use that affects her ability to care for children, it is highly unlikely that she could get even unsupervised visitation without demonstrating that she has remained free from substance abuse for a period of time.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2014 at 10:12 AM