I am here to see if anyone would happen to know what I have to do to get guardianship/custody of my 14 yr old sister... im 25 and married with no kids... mom is unfit at this time to handle a 14 yr old and she can barley handle herself... dad works nights and you can't leave a 14yr old home all night by herself... parents are divorced... for about 5 yrs now... need advice... dad willing to sign over rights... havent asked mom... know she will put up a fight just because she wants to keep control... I won't stop them from seeing her I just want her raised in a better environment then the one she is in now... :confused:

Hi,
Thank you for asking a question here, and Welcome to this site.
A 14 yr old is possibly old enough to tell a Judge who she wants to live with, and have her wishes listened to.
Custody cases are best handled by a Lawyer. I am not a lawyer, nor a Professional in this area. Your best bet is to talk with a lawyer, one who maybe friends, or someone in your local area, can recommend who has handled custody cases before. You can talk about the cost, etc, and what the lawyer suggests.
I do wish you the best, and good luck.

First you could see if your mother would just let her stay with you, give you power of attorney for medical care and school. Actual legal custody would not really be needed if the mother would just let her live with you.

If not, you would have to go to court with an attorney and attempt to prove she is an unfit mother and that the child would be better off with you.

I wish you the best in the world that you get the custody. I am also trying to get my sisters custody. I'm a single 24 yr. old taking care of my 2 sister I have been taking care of them since I was 16 and they were 13 and 4 yrs old, now they are 19 and 9 yrs. Never take just your mother word for it you are going too have to court, get an attorney and prove that you would be a better guardian than her,if you know that your mom is going to give you a hard time get a social worker and a mediator. This will help you in court, its expensive but talk to your lawyer first and you will have to pay half and your mother half. Get anything in your power to discredit your mother and try to think like her and what she would say so you can be one step in front of her.

I wish you the best of luck... may god bless you...

You may also want to get a jury trial if none of this helps.

This is my opinion due to my circumstances.. allways consult an attorney never go to court with out one.. best wishes to you and your sister..

Remm: she can also say in court who she wants to stay..

Rather than custody, have your thought about guardianship? You do not necessarily have to have the parents sign over parental rights for guardianship. If you are in the US a local family court can assign legal guardianship to you if your sister will attest to the fact that the mother is not fit and that she is better off with you.

If in the US you can possibly go to your local Child and Family Services and request that a social worker look into the sister's situation and request that you be granted temporary custody.

Thank you all for your advice... I had let it be because things had settled down but s*** has hit the fan again and my parents are at each others throats again... I am going to start again so they can't put my baby sister in the middle anymore

I like FR Chuck suggestion best and that is to let your sister live with you rather than tear apart the family. By the time it winds through a court she will be of an age to decide for herself where she wants to live.

The sister is 14, if they are here in the states, most states will let a child choose at the age of 12 or 13.

Hello angelynn:

I had a nasty, expensive custody battle over my 7 year old son. I didn't lose, really, so much as I ran out of money. These fights are terribly expensive.

So, what I did, was move into a house 2 blocks away. It worked fine.

If your sister is 14, it would work even better. Now, I know that you probably can't move. But... a custody battle can cost you as much as a house.

excon

You would need support to prove that the child is in an unfit situation and consent from both biological parents to do so. A lawyer that has expertise in the area of family law to help support your case. But in this kind of situation it will be a big lawsuit. So if you do this I wish the best of luck