custody,legal custody, gaurdianship

We are residents of Penna. who are taking cusdity of a 16 year old boy(west Va.) who widower father is ill and will be moving to S.C.and has asked us to take over. The father is essentially a ward of the state and has been his entire life. We can afford to take care of this child and want to do so. Should we have the father sign"legal custody", "custody" or "gaurdianship" papers?
What is the difference? Thanks in advance. There are many other questions, but this is a start.

geoiv said:

We are residents of Penna. who are taking cusdity of a 16 year old boy(west Va.) who widower father is ill and will be moving to S.C.and has asked us to take over. The father is essentially a ward of the state and has been his entire life. We can afford to take care of this child and want to do so. Should we have the father sign"legal custody", "custody" or "gaurdianship" papers?
What is the difference? Thanks in advance. There are many other questions, but this is a start.

Click to expand...

My response:

Legal Guardianship is a higher form of custody, used for a minor, including his Estate; e.g., when money is earned, how it's spent, how and where it's saved, etc., along with all decision-making processes. To be used when a child may be mentally or emotionally deficient.

Legal Custody, however, allows only a lawful right to have the child in your home, and to be cared for by you - - e.g., giving you the same rights as the legal parent. But, it does not confer to you any rights over the minor's Estate.

IAAL

Thank you so much for replying. The child has no funds , though we will create them through Uniform gifts to minors, to pay for his college, so I am unconcerned about his "estate or funds rights". I am concerned about his right to elect to stay with us,if he so elects, and the difference between "legal gaurdianship,gaurdianship,ect. We have a very short time frame here as he is moving next week and I must have the father, who is moving sign everything now. Thanks again.

I do not have instant messenger or those items , but could if the kids were here to help me. perhaps it is not as tough as I think. I will send my e-mail if you like or can try the instant messenger stuff. We have a situation where we must get things done in advance of the departing father and must act quickly

Is there a significant difference between the words "custody or gaurdianship when uninteded with the word "legal"? We seek only the childs best interests, but are concerned about the fathers later ability to use the child"s locus(i.e. with us) as a form of bribery. He will now sign almost anything I give him, and get it notorized, so I want to be all inclusive. In some cases I may want to be repetitive, for example having him sign a letter to me that we have "legal custody" and one that says we have "custody". Additionally , I intend to have him give me a power of attorney relative to his son.

I hate to be a pain in the neck, but I am really under time pressure. I would really appreciate your responses. As you are in california and I am in Pa. I will stay up, but would appreciate knowing if you will not respond until a later time. Thanks.

Oh, by the way, I am a red head.

My response:

I'll try to be brief - - but, it will be difficult.

You need to see an attorney to do this.

You need to obtain "legal custody" - - not merely parental authorized "custody." I'll give you one example: If you don't have the legal authority, i.e., legal custody with court orders, you won't be able to register him in school, yourself. You'll need Dad to do all the signing and, the school doesn't have to discuss any matters with you. This "inconvenience" will occur throughout his schooling while he's with you, and in many other situations also.

With "legal custody," i.e., "In Loco Parentes", the school will have to deal with you, just as if you were the minor's parents.

There are other situations where you'll find that you won't be able to do anything unless you have the "legal right" to have custody.

As another example, what if he gets into trouble with the law ? The court will not let him bail out into your custody - - because you don't have a court's authority to have custody of the minor in the first place. It would be like having a minor bail out into MY custody. Courts do not release minors to just anyone, you know.

I'm not saying that anything like this will happen, it's just that it's a possible scenario, and if you don't have custody, the criminal court will make him a Ward of the State, and place him into the Foster system - - and there's not a damn thing you could do about it.

You could wave those papers the father has signed and notarized like a flag, all day long, in front of a school administrator's, or a judge's face. It won't matter.

I think you folks may have waited too long to have this handled in a timely manner - - especially where school registration is concerned. But, like I said, this is not the only situation where you may be too late.

IAAL

You said:

geoiv
Junior Member

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: pa
Posts: 6

"I hate to be a pain in the neck, but I am really under time pressure. I would really appreciate your responses. As you are in california and I am in Pa. I will stay up, but would appreciate knowing if you will not respond until a later time. Thanks."

08-19-2001 09:04 PM


geoiv
Junior Member

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: pa
Posts: 6

"Oh, by the way, I am a red head."


MY RESPONSE:

I'm "dancing" as fast as I can.

Are you a "real" redhead ?

IAAL

Well, I am truely a red head or blond red head but you should know I am also male and married.
I want to thank you for your advice.
We would have prefered more time to get this together, but that was not given to us, and in the interest of the child, we will take the risk. Remember anything we get other than a "court order" is always revocabile by the father.
But there is an interesting automatic waiver to that, If the child resides with us for more than 6(six) month, then they law says any discussions must occur in our courts(Pa.) not WVA. We do not think this melinger is about to challange in pa. and time passes quickly as do his rights.
But again, I want to thank you!

And if you think I am missing something, I would also appreciate that slap on the head. God knows I need one from time to time. School is done. Medical insurance is almost done. My kids are happy. My wife is happy. The future resident( child) seems delighted!

geoiv said:

Well, I am truely a red head or blond red head but you should know I am also male and married.

Click to expand...

My response:

YIKES !

Usually, when someone goes out of their way to tell me they're a redhead, it's usually because they know my "preferences" for red naturals, they know I'm a male, and that they want me so badly, they will say or do anything to be with me !

But, to have said you're a "redhead", knowing that I love redheads, and then to tell me you're a male, well, that's just playing dirty pool.

You really got my hopes up. And, I call my "friend" Hope.

IAAL

No intention to play "dirty pool". Did not know either your gender or your interests, just appreciated your advice. Thanks again.

geoiv said:

Well, I am truely a red head or blond red head but you should know I am also male and married.

Click to expand...

Haha.. Too funny..