What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee
I share custody of my sister's daughter (my niece) with my mother (the child's grandmother). When the child was 2 years old, her mother literally chose drugs over the child and left her at the grandmother's house. The grandmother and I filed a petition to get custody of the child and were rewarded custody in 2008. Flash forward to today- the child is 11 years old and I am really wanting the mother to relinquish her rights to my husband and I. She has not seen or spoken to the child in an estimated 4 years, at least. She has requested to see the child a handful of times since then, but when I would ask her to take a drug test, she would never show up. Also, our custody papers state that we (the grandmother and I) legally can not let the mother see the child if we suspect she is on drugs. She also has had 3 other children, two of which have been adopted out. The other child, just born about a week ago, is being placed into foster care because the baby was born addicted to drugs (the mother admitted to using opioids for at least 5 months of the pregnancy). (In Tennessee, if children are born with drugs in their system, the baby is automatically taken away from the mother.)
The father wasn't in the picture from the beginning. Didn't come to the hospital or sign the birth certificate. I tried to get child support from him about 7 years ago and even the court had a hard time finding him. They finally found out after about a year, that he was incarcerated. I know the court wanted to do a paternity test, but I can not recall if the test was ever done. Have not seen or heard from him in over 10 years.
The grandmother is on board with the adoption. (Is it an adoption at this point?)
My husband and I have been together for over 10 years, but we've only been married since October 2016, and I had read on other posts that the court wants couples to be married for a few years before awarding custody to a step-parent, does that apply in this situation?
So my questions are: If the mother willingly gives up her rights, do I need a lawyer? If not, how do I go about it? Does the father have to sign away his rights? Is it likely that my husband can get custody with me? If not, could he get custody later on?
I share custody of my sister's daughter (my niece) with my mother (the child's grandmother). When the child was 2 years old, her mother literally chose drugs over the child and left her at the grandmother's house. The grandmother and I filed a petition to get custody of the child and were rewarded custody in 2008. Flash forward to today- the child is 11 years old and I am really wanting the mother to relinquish her rights to my husband and I. She has not seen or spoken to the child in an estimated 4 years, at least. She has requested to see the child a handful of times since then, but when I would ask her to take a drug test, she would never show up. Also, our custody papers state that we (the grandmother and I) legally can not let the mother see the child if we suspect she is on drugs. She also has had 3 other children, two of which have been adopted out. The other child, just born about a week ago, is being placed into foster care because the baby was born addicted to drugs (the mother admitted to using opioids for at least 5 months of the pregnancy). (In Tennessee, if children are born with drugs in their system, the baby is automatically taken away from the mother.)
The father wasn't in the picture from the beginning. Didn't come to the hospital or sign the birth certificate. I tried to get child support from him about 7 years ago and even the court had a hard time finding him. They finally found out after about a year, that he was incarcerated. I know the court wanted to do a paternity test, but I can not recall if the test was ever done. Have not seen or heard from him in over 10 years.
The grandmother is on board with the adoption. (Is it an adoption at this point?)
My husband and I have been together for over 10 years, but we've only been married since October 2016, and I had read on other posts that the court wants couples to be married for a few years before awarding custody to a step-parent, does that apply in this situation?
So my questions are: If the mother willingly gives up her rights, do I need a lawyer? If not, how do I go about it? Does the father have to sign away his rights? Is it likely that my husband can get custody with me? If not, could he get custody later on?
