Parents goin to prison

[jaystrauss]

Hey , i was just needing to see if anyone can tell me what will probably happen in my givin situation. Im 18yrs old , my mom and step dad both got charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth. , he got 5yrs , 4 yrs 3 months good behavor , she got 4 yrs , 3 yrs 5 months good behavor. Which was ok , but they both had alittle time before they had to go , but they got arressted again , and charged with poss. meth/cocaine/pot/ephadrine , assault on a officer. im not sure what all happen , i just got off work and found out they were in jail , so i just want to know if anyone out there knows how much more time they will be looking at with all this added on. Also i have a younger brother and sister to look after , but my mom still has gaurdianship of them , and it doesnt look like she will be able to sign it over to me now that shes locked up, and they dont want to go live with their dad. So if i just keep them here with me will i get into any trouble? I live in Kansas. Thanks.

 

[Ivebeenthere]

Jay, Sorry to hear about your situation. Your Mom and Step dad have serious problems. Were they charged under State or Federal jurisdiction? Either way the judge will take their behavior as a slap in the face. We can get back to their problem later. Let's deal with yours. You are 18 and therefore an adult (at least legally). I’m impressed with your concern for your brother and sister. How old are they? Under law, their father could file for and most likely be granted custody. Your mother could also assign you Power of Attorney allowing you to deal with her affairs while she is away. What do you think the children’s father will want? You cannot get in “trouble” if you allow the children to live with you unless their father requests and is granted custody and then you defy a court order. Please think this matter over carefully as taking care of yourself and 2 kids will be a great responsibility. From experience you will need the resources, support and assistance of your family and close friends. Put past family problems and hostilities behind so you can work together in helping your brother and sister. You may be able to find some local support by visitingThe November Coalition web site http://www.november.org the people there are all to familiar with situations like yours. Please feel free to email me directly and let me how things progress. Larry

 

[jaystrauss]

My bro is 12 and my sister 17 , however she has a learning disability and is at the mindset of maybe a 13-14 yr old. My mom was gonna give me power of attorney before she had to go to prison , but it didnt get done before they got arressted again. So im not sure if they will let us do it at the jail , because i would need it noterized. With my dad , hes an alcholic , and also a drug user and sometimes abusive. I know if he finds out that my mom is in prison he will try to get custody of them , so im tryin to keep it from him. He lives in a different city , as with the rest of my family. The rest of my family are all pretty good people , never get into trouble , but im afraid if i tell them , it might get around and back to my dad. What i was meaning about getting into "trouble" for keeping them was , if i dont tell my dad whats going on , and just keep them , and maybe he finds out in like a year or something , then can it come back on me for not letting him know. I was going to try to get custody switched threw a lawyer , and the lawyer i talked to told me that they would need to get ahold of my father and notify him that custody was going to be switched to find out if he was going to contest it or something. Thats what brought up my concern. Because for now i have no custody. So i was just intending on Keeping them here with me , and hopefully get pow. of attorney thing finished. And just keeping my father in the dark about all this as long as i can. And also i had asked if anyone knows how much more time they will be looking at for these new charges , because as it was i would have been here for another 3-4 years taking care of them until she got out , but if they get 10-15 now , then that would leave me here for about 8 years until my little brother is raised. Which i will do if i must, but that puts me in my own prison , i moved from where my family is to here to take care of them , and left everything behind, hoping it would just be a temp. thing for acouple years.