QUESTION
How can I make sure that my current husband gets custody of my 17 and 14 year old daughters, not their bio father, if I were to die?
Asked on Apr 13th, 2020 on Guardianship and Conservatorship - Oklahoma
More details to this question:
I have primary custodial custody of my 2 daughters ages 17 and 14. My ex-husbands girlfriend is verbally and physically abusive to them so they haven't been to their biological father's house since July 2018. I took him back to court in Aug 2018 because of her abuse and to keep my girls away from her. We are under a temporary court order with the order stating that he has no regular visits from before nor any holiday visits. The only visits he can have with the girls are away from his girlfriend with him on the 2 Saturday's a month that he is off work. He gets to see them from 10am to 8pm if he shows up. He has shown up twice in the last year and 9 months. One time for 4 hours and the other time for the full 10 hours. He is also supposed to attend counseling with them and has only attended one session during this one year and 9 month ordeal. The court has granted him 3 extensions now to get his act together. We go back to court in July of this year depending on the coronavirus issue.
1 ANSWER
1 Award
Under the law, the surviving biological parent generally would be entitled to legal custody of the children. The exception to this is if your current husband can show that the bio dad is an unfit parent, then step dad could Petition for a guardianship. Under the circumstances you described, it is possible the Court would find it the father is unfit, and that it is in the girls best interest to be with the step parent. It would be beneficial to make sure you have a Will that indicates your wish for your current husband to be guardian of the children, so the Court has some record to know that is who you trust with your children.
Another option would be to have your husband adopt the girls. You can see if the bio father will voluntarily terminate his rights. You can point out to him that he will no longer be required to pay child support if he terminates his rights pursuant to an adoption. His rights can be involuntarily terminated if he fails to pay child support for 12 of the last 14 months, or fails to maintian a meaningful relationship with the children for 12 of the last 14 months and the Court finds it is in the best interest of the children.
Answered on Apr 13th, 2020 at 1:52 PM