Child custody by a family friend

[929397]

State: New Hampshire

My son's best friend (8 1/2 years old) has mentioned many times that he is unhappy at home and would like to come and live with us. He has seen many abusively verbal and physical disputes between his parents. The police have been involved in at least one situation. To my knowledge, the son himself has never been physically abused. The parents have separated, with the son living with the mother and the father taking him every other weekend and one night a week. The mother is a manic-depressant and is currently on lithium. The father has a criminal record, but I am not aware of what crimes were committed. The son stayed back in second grade this year because of emotional duress. As of late, he lies frequently and talks about stealing. At times, he appears depressed and not to care about any thing. He has spent a lot of time with our family over the last two years and partakes in many of our family activities (including vacations). Do we have a legal way to take custody of this child?

 

[LegalBeagle]

State: New Hampshire

My son's best friend (8 1/2 years old) has mentioned many times that he is unhappy at home and would like to come and live with us. He has seen many abusively verbal and physical disputes between his parents. The police have been involved in at least one situation. To my knowledge, the son himself has never been physically abused. The parents have separated, with the son living with the mother and the father taking him every other weekend and one night a week. The mother is a manic-depressant and is currently on lithium. The father has a criminal record, but I am not aware of what crimes were committed. The son stayed back in second grade this year because of emotional duress. As of late, he lies frequently and talks about stealing. At times, he appears depressed and not to care about any thing. He has spent a lot of time with our family over the last two years and partakes in many of our family activities (including vacations). Do we have a legal way to take custody of this child?

No.. the only thing you could do is petition for custody, but you would have to amass a crap load of proof as to both parents being unfit, have a few thousand dollars spare for the legal fees and then hope none of the GP get involved.