I actually have three questions:
1. My two teenaged children (17 years and 15 years) are living in CA with their aunt under a temporary guardianship, so they can study in the US, while I have been living in India. I am now returning to the US and I want to regain custody of my children. Do I need to be living in CA to regain custody of my kids?

2. The reason that the aunt has guardianship of my children is because their father was in jail, and now is living in a group home and in rehab. I want sole custody of my kids and I do not want to live in CA. They want to emancipate from their father. How do we do this?

3. Before coming to India, my ex husband signed an agreement, that was signed by a judge, allowing me to take my kids any where in the world with me. Does that still stand, even though they have now been living in the US for this past 10 months with their aunt?

Thank you,
Shruthi

1. They can not just emancipate from one parent, and I doubt they would qualify for total emancipation , from both parents.

You will have to file for full custody in the court where the temp order was done, so most likely since it can take some time to get it done, you may need to be in California at least temp, to get custody back. Will their aunt gladly sign custody back or will she fight it, ( that is another issue)

I actually have three questions:
1. My two teenaged children (17 years and 15 years) are living in CA with their aunt under a temporary guardianship, so they can study in the US, while I have been living in India. I am now returning to the US and I want to regain custody of my children. Do I need to be living in CA to regain custody of my kids?

2. The reason that the aunt has guardianship of my children is because their father was in jail, and now is living in a group home and in rehab. I want sole custody of my kids and I do not want to live in CA. They want to emancipate from their father. How do we do this?

3. Before coming to India, my ex husband signed an agreement, that was signed by a judge, allowing me to take my kids any where in the world with me. Does that still stand, even though they have now been living in the US for this past 10 months with their aunt?

Thank you,
Shruthi

If you had court order that you can take your kids anywhere in the world, why did you let them stay with the aunt?

You would need to establish CA residency at least 6 months to proceed with child custody, and you'd better consult an attorney.

The agreement you have with your ex may be null and void since you gave your children up to another party. When you have agreements and you release them then they are finished until new ones are in place. Were you living in calif before you left for india ? That time spent may or maynot qualify, also why did you leave them ?

First of all, I did NOT leave my children. They were living here in India with me, and went to visit their father, (he has visitation rights) who, abandoned them the day they got to the US for a visit. He was supposed to send them back, but did not, and before the issue could be solved, he was arrested. I did not have the money to get them back to here and none of their reletives would send them. They needed to get into school, so I gave TEMPORARY custody to their aunt, just until I get back. I am now returning back to the US

I did live in the US before we came here. I am an American, living in India. I didn't understand your comment about time spent. What time are you referring to? I lived in California for 16 years before coming to India. I have been here just one year now.

FR_Chuck,
Thanks for the answer.

Their aunt says that she will gladly sign off the custody, but I have my doubts. They won't qualify for full emancipation, you are right. So, any idea how long it would take to get full custody? Do I need to prove him unfit? (which he obviously is) He has a long arrest record and is an addict.

Also, can you tell me how to go about doing this? This is new territory for me. I should never have sent them back for a visit, but I felt I had no choice, as he has court ordered visitation rights. We never intended to be separated.

Thanks,
Shruthi

Sometimes before you can bring things before a court you must prove residency. If you had never lived or lived outside of California then the process of getting custody might have taken longer. That's why I asked if you had spent time in Cali. I again ask that if you have lived in Cali for 16 years and went to india what is the reason you went there for ? That is going to be considered by the courts also. You can file yourself but for this situation its best to use a lawyer.

I came here to do social work, i.e.. Working with orphans and the poor, etc. My kids were not taken away from me. I was never unfit or had any court records or anything like that. I gave custody, when they couldn't get back here, to the aunt, so they could go to school and get medical, etc. I came to India on humanitarian purposes.

I would say you would need to file in California
The paper you signed with him is probably no longer valid like the other member said because you didn't take them when you had the chance.
Why did the father have them and not you in the first place? That may be something the courts might base there judgement on.

OK, let me start again from the beginning. As I said before, I came here to do social work, and my kids were here with me, too. They were never living with their father, and I brought them to India with me first.

Then, they had to go back for a visit after three months of living here with me. Their father was supposed to send them back here, but he refused as soon as they got to the US. Also, he never took them, instead, he dumped them off on a friend the second he picked them up from the airport, and then they ultimately ended up with his family members. His family would not pay the airfare to send them back, or couldn't, so they got stuck in the US. I did not have the money to get them back here.

So, the aunt took them with her, and insisted that if I did not give her temporary custody, that they would end up in foster care. So, I gave her temporary custody. She is telling that she will willingly sign off the temporary custody as soon as I get back to the US. I think that as long as I have a place to live, that should not be an issue in getting them back.

The thing is now, that I want to live outside of the state of CA, and I'm trying to find out what I need to do, to get full costody, away from my unfit, drug addict ex husband, so I can take my kids with me anywhere outside of CA. Their father barely sees them, does not pay child support and lives in a group home.

So, this is the whole situation. Any suggestions?

First off are you in india or cali ? If your not in cali yet then you will have to wait and file when you get there. First filing is for custody. Also there is a child support issue hanging that needs to be addressed. When you file for change in custody you will be filing for sole custody. The child support issue needs to be filed also and Im guessing it took place in cali ? If not then you may have to file in the state that issued it or request a transfer. Be prepaired for mediation ( court mandate ) and donot make any accusations you can't prove. It would be best to hire a lawyer. If those things come to pass then and only then will you know what restrictions you will have in so far as where your children can and can't go. No one here can predict what's going to happen in a courtroom esp cali courtrooms.