filing for custody of my grandaughter

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma
My daughter is 18 years old and living with her boyfriend , who is my granddaughter's father and he is also 18. My daughter told me that they have been smoking crack with his grandmother and his aunt. She said they won't ever do it again, but this is not the first time. His family sells pills illegally and his brother was murdered because because he was smoking crack and robbing people. Part of his crackhead family live in the same apartments that they live in. They are getting aide from the state illegally and my grandaughter is just 3 months old. I spoke with a counselor through the child abuse hotline and she told me to go to court and try and get custody of my grandaughter. How could I win a custody case??? What information do I need to have to proceed with this. I have a good stable job and can afford to take care of my grandaughter. Please e-mail me or post to this site, my e-mail address is [email protected].

Try talking to your daughter to see if she will let you have her. You can file for custody but without hard proof, it's not going to help alot. You may have to settle for calling CPS as often as you can and let them take the child where she will be safe. They usually prefer to place a child with a relative anyway.

I too live in Oklahoma. I know if you don't have physical custody of your grandchild, it'll be hard to get her. Voluntary placement by the mom is best, however if that doesn't work, you'll have to get proof of drug use. Do the kids have their own bed? This is a huge deal in oklahoma courts. Tape a phone conversation? It's legal in Oklahoma as long as one party of the conversation gives consent. You can not tape a private conversation without the parties knowledge if you are not involved in the conversation.

In my situation, I am the grandparent of a 4yr old and 3yr old. I have legal guardianship that I pursued privately. 3 years ago I started with offering to babysit because of the parent's drug use. I didn't want the children in that environment. My babysitting started when the 3 year old was only 2 weeks old. Slowly the kids stayed more and more with me until finally I had all their clothes, etc. Mom (my daughter-in- law) wanted to give me guardianship, dad was not in the picture at this time due to serious drug use (my son). Her boyfriend was wanting to go to Florida, so we needed to act fast. We filed for temp guardianship and then went to court. Both parents were found unfit due to the drug use. We also had the edge of the kiddos living with us.

Keep a very detailed log of events including exact conversations. keep calling the dept of human services, and try to get the mother taped confessing to drug use. Offer to babysit as often as you can. If drug use is a problem, it won't take long for them to realize that you are their ticket to party time.

I don't know what county you're in, but get a good ole boy hometown attorney. One that gets along well with the particular judge that will be handling your case. Don't try to bring in some bigshot attorney for Tulsa or OKC unless you're in those cities. Politics is key when choosing an attorney in Oklahoma. The law is the law, but Ok law says a judge can do "what is in the best interest of the child", so pick a home town attorney that's known for winning and being the judges pet.

seahorizon1960 said:

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma
My daughter is 18 years old and living with her boyfriend , who is my granddaughter's father and he is also 18. My daughter told me that they have been smoking crack with his grandmother and his aunt. She said they won't ever do it again, but this is not the first time. His family sells pills illegally and his brother was murdered because because he was smoking crack and robbing people. Part of his crackhead family live in the same apartments that they live in. They are getting aide from the state illegally and my grandaughter is just 3 months old. I spoke with a counselor through the child abuse hotline and she told me to go to court and try and get custody of my grandaughter. How could I win a custody case??? What information do I need to have to proceed with this. I have a good stable job and can afford to take care of my grandaughter. Please e-mail me or post to this site, my e-mail address is [email protected].

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At this point, you have no proof. Do you think your daughter is going to fess up to a judge that she's smoking crack?