• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Grandmother threatening to take my children

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

duckmom

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I am in Oregon and my mother-in-law is in Nevada. She has threatened several times that if I do not provide my children to her at her basically when she demands it then she will take me to court because she says she "has rights to them". She left her 3 kids (including my husband) when they were children and acts like my kids are her do-over. Over Christmas she called/texted me several times but I was busy and texted her to let her know we would call her later. She replied with things like "you will NOT ignore me" and "i have grandparent rights and you will be sorry". She then texted my husband and called my several horrible names, told him to keep my mouth shut and told him that we would never be able to keep the kids away from her because she "has rights".

Her contact with my kids has always been very limited as she and her husband have alcohol issues. We visited them once and her husband got extremely inappropriate when he was drunk so we will not be going back there. She has come up twice to visit and the only time she had my daughter who is 5 for the day she didn't feed her for the 8 hours she had her. She also left my nephew who was 2 alone in a second story hotel room for an hour to go walk her dogs. My husband hates arguing and just tries to not deal with any of it. I am done with her after the things she said on Christmas and am wondering if I have anything to worry about? I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to take the kids and not bring them back because she talks like she has rights like a parent. So far I have been ignoring her but I am really worried about what I need to do in case she files something.
 


Antigone*

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I am in Oregon and my mother-in-law is in Nevada. She has threatened several times that if I do not provide my children to her at her basically when she demands it then she will take me to court because she says she "has rights to them". She left her 3 kids (including my husband) when they were children and acts like my kids are her do-over. Over Christmas she called/texted me several times but I was busy and texted her to let her know we would call her later. She replied with things like "you will NOT ignore me" and "i have grandparent rights and you will be sorry". She then texted my husband and called my several horrible names, told him to keep my mouth shut and told him that we would never be able to keep the kids away from her because she "has rights".

Her contact with my kids has always been very limited as she and her husband have alcohol issues. We visited them once and her husband got extremely inappropriate when he was drunk so we will not be going back there. She has come up twice to visit and the only time she had my daughter who is 5 for the day she didn't feed her for the 8 hours she had her. She also left my nephew who was 2 alone in a second story hotel room for an hour to go walk her dogs. My husband hates arguing and just tries to not deal with any of it. I am done with her after the things she said on Christmas and am wondering if I have anything to worry about? I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to take the kids and not bring them back because she talks like she has rights like a parent. So far I have been ignoring her but I am really worried about what I need to do in case she files something.

I would not hand my children over to her if I were you. As Zigner said she is blowing smoke. She has no standing to sue, and if it were my I'd tell the lady to pound sand.
 

Hot Topic

Senior Member
You might want to consider having an attorney experienced in Family Law send her a letter advising her of your rights versus those she thinks she has and confirming that you're more than willing to defend those rights if necessary.

Your husband is probably "Mom whipped." That's no excuse, however, for him to let you deal with the situation.
 
Last edited:

Antigone*

Senior Member
You might want to consider having an attorney experienced in Family Law send her a letter advising her of your rights versus those she thinks she has and confirming that you're more than willing to defend those rights if necessary.

Your husband is pathetic.
Not pathetic, just needs to grow a pair;)
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I am in Oregon and my mother-in-law is in Nevada. She has threatened several times that if I do not provide my children to her at her basically when she demands it then she will take me to court because she says she "has rights to them". She left her 3 kids (including my husband) when they were children and acts like my kids are her do-over. Over Christmas she called/texted me several times but I was busy and texted her to let her know we would call her later. She replied with things like "you will NOT ignore me" and "i have grandparent rights and you will be sorry". She then texted my husband and called my several horrible names, told him to keep my mouth shut and told him that we would never be able to keep the kids away from her because she "has rights".

Her contact with my kids has always been very limited as she and her husband have alcohol issues. We visited them once and her husband got extremely inappropriate when he was drunk so we will not be going back there. She has come up twice to visit and the only time she had my daughter who is 5 for the day she didn't feed her for the 8 hours she had her. She also left my nephew who was 2 alone in a second story hotel room for an hour to go walk her dogs. My husband hates arguing and just tries to not deal with any of it. I am done with her after the things she said on Christmas and am wondering if I have anything to worry about? I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to take the kids and not bring them back because she talks like she has rights like a parent. So far I have been ignoring her but I am really worried about what I need to do in case she files something.
You can safely ignore her. She has no inherent rights to them at all, and while Oregon law is spread out and not cohesive, she would have a very hard time prevailing on any kind of visitation suit when an intact family is involved.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top