How And When Is Grandparent Custody Durham NC Seniors Want Possible?
by Amy Morgan
When grown children leave the house most parents assume they will begin their own lives, choose a partner, and hopefully provide grandchildren. Not all seniors anticipate that they may have to face the harsh reality of raising their children's children. Instead of having the freedom of spoiling little ones and then returning them to the parents, they have become the ones charged with disciplining, feeding, clothing, and nurturing another generation. In Durham, NC when they attempt to get official <a href="http://foillawoffices.com/">grandparent custody Durham NC</a> seniors often face serious obstacles.
You may not approve of your children's parenting style, but unless there is abuse or neglect, there may not be much you can do about it. Most family service agencies and court systems try to keep the family unit intact if at all possible. It is often difficult for a relative to convince a judge that their home would be a better place for those minor children.
Grandparents may be able to seek legal rights to grandchildren if there is drug abuse or illegal drug activity in the home. Not all states recognize abuse of illegal substances sufficient grounds for removing the child from the parental home however. You may have to prove parents actually gave drugs to the children. In some states ingesting drugs during pregnancy is considered child abuse, but not in all.
Commonly parents with substance abuse and other serious problems end up abandoning their children to the grandparents. This can happen suddenly or over time. A parent may drop children off at the grandparents for the day and never show back up. In other circumstances, children spend more and more time with the grandparents until they are there all the time.
It may be that the parent is forced out their children's lives because of death or incarceration. If this happens, the grandparents can seek formal guardianship or remain as the primary caregivers through an informal arrangement. There will have to be some papers and forms filled out and filed though to make sure the adults can make educational and medical decisions for the minors.
When seniors decide to fight for custodial rights in the courts, they often face difficult challenges. If the minors are already in their care, it is usually easier to convince the legal system to make the relationship formal. Parents who are have been sentenced to long prison terms, have been convicted of child abuse, or have abandoned their children are most at risk of losing legal guardianship.
Grandparents sometimes get very upset when, after they have been awarded custodial rights by the court, one or both of the parents return and want their children back. Seniors sometimes mistakenly assume legal guardianship gives them the same claim to the children as adoption would, but that is incorrect. If parents can convince the courts they are stable and have overcome their difficulties, guardianship is often returned to them.
It is always difficult when close relatives fear children might not have the kind of home life they deserve. Unfortunately it is sometimes difficult to correct the situation without going through a multitude of legal hurdles.
Get a summary of the factors to consider when picking a <a href="http://foillawoffices.com">grandparent custody Durham NC</a> attorney and more information about a reputable lawyer at http://foillawoffices.com now.
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