My niece lives with my husband and I already. We do not have legal custody or guardianship because her mother is still trying to reap the benefits and lying saying that she lives with her. We would love to adopt her. But we know it would be a big fight. Her mother treats her like a meal ticket and that would take her control away and her father would freak out... Even though neither of them has even so much as given us $5 to help with any of her needs. I really don't know how to go about this. She is with us because they know we are the ones who can best provide for her. I really wish they would sign her over then it would be a lot easier but they would lose their leverage for a place to live and food and junk. It really upsets me. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

You hire an attorney and mother and bio father will sign to allow for the adoption.

Beyond that it will be a nasty and hard court fight and you will need to show mother unfit, or other requirements by your location.

You have a big problem here. You have no legal right to have the child live with you. You can't authorize medical care, register her for school, be the primary emergency contact, etc. If something happens to her while in your care, you could be in big trouble.

So I would suggest you start looking for an attorney TODAY. Get an attorney to advise you of the best way to proceed. I suspect that might be to force the child to move back with the parents while you file for custody.

I have always been the primary emergency contact. Her mother has actually made sure of that because she knows we would be the first ones to be there. Her school knows that she lives with me and all her stuff is sent here. Her mother told the school that she is living with me until further notice because she doesn't have a suitable place to live and such. I don't know if that changes anything at all or not. But thank you very much for the advice!

Unless the school has a signed notice to that effect they are on shaky ground if anything were to happen. On the other hand, that gives you ammunition in a court battle.

If the mother is getting public assistance based on the daughter living with the mother, then she is committing fraud and should be reported. Which will also help your case.

I hope you have been keeping all the communications that your getting from the school with your address on it. You can then call to report the fraud and have proof the child is in your legal residence. How long has the child been living with you?

She is in our lease. She lived with us all summer part time. Her dad would get her every other week. For up to a week at a time. Just before school started, almost 2 months now, we got her full time.

What does the father think of adoption ? Does he wish to go along with it? Call tomorrow when you can and report the mother for fraud if she is receiving benefits.