I live in Illinois... I have had my nephew for 9 weeks now... how long do I have to wait to get legal rights to my nephew. What do I do to get rights?

You don't have legal rights to anyone else's child unless you are granted legal custody... legal guardianship... or you adopt them. You have to make applications for any of those. None come automatically.

Its not called child abandonment. You need to go to Children's services and they will tell you step by step the process.

More details. Why do you have the child? What happened to the parents? How old is the child? Have you tried to contact the parents?

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

More details. Why do you have the child? What happened to the parents? How old is the child? Have you tried to contact the parents?

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DCFS came in and told the parents either you place the children or we will place them, DCFS states that it was environmental neglect and neglect for the children. The child is 5months old. They provide nothing for the child. I want some kind of leg to stand on!

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Originally Posted by dslater

DCFS came in and told the parents either you place the children or we will place them, DCFS states that it was environmental neglect and neglect for the children. The child is 5months old. They provide nothing for the child. I want some kind of leg to stand on!

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Not even checking on the childs' well being is not being abandonment?

No by legal terms they have to distinguish between someone leaving a kid on the street corner or a dumpster or somewhere where there is no adult. So as long as the child was left with a supervising adult it is not considered abandonment. Legally they did what DCFS told them to but they didn't go about it the right way. Now you need to go to DCFS and tell them the situation and they will tell you what steps to take.

Abandonment is a very misunderstood term in family law. There is no charge of abandonment. However, it may be used as grounds for some other action, like custody or divorce. But, 9 weeks is not enough to use abandonment as grounds for anything.

Do you have anything in writing from DCFS giving you legal responsibility for the child? If they placed the child with you, you should have some documentation. Otherwise you have no legal right to authorize medical care. So the first thing I would do is make sure you have some legal guardianship. Talk to the caseworker about this.

What is your ultimate goal? Do you want to adopt the child and do you want to help your relatives get back to where they can care for the child?