Terminating parental rights

[Landiera]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AZ

Well to make a long story short my husband and I are trying to terminate his exwifes parental rights so that I may adopt her. She is 7 years old. My husband got full legal custody of her in 09 when we found out her mom was a heroin addict, and was in jail. Since then in 09 a judge ordered her to do a 7 week parenting class and drug assessment then she could have supervised visits with her. She has yet to do then. They we found out that she and her boyfriend, neglected, abused, sexually abused, and emotionally abused her. She has had two forensic interviews. one in 09 the other this year in April and no charges have been made. So we decided to take it a step farther and get her parental rights taken. This is what my step daughter wants. She has had no contact with her mom since 09. So we had our hearings and the mother has decided she wants to fight for her. Well she is still a heroin addict so we don't know is she will drive all the way to az because she lives in Ca. So anyways I was just wondering if anyone knows the Arizona system well enough to tell us if we have a shot and any advice anyone has. Thank you very much.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? AZ

Well to make a long story short my husband and I are trying to terminate his exwifes parental rights so that I may adopt her. She is 7 years old. My husband got full legal custody of her in 09 when we found out her mom was a heroin addict, and was in jail. Since then in 09 a judge ordered her to do a 7 week parenting class and drug assessment then she could have supervised visits with her. She has yet to do then. They we found out that she and her boyfriend, neglected, abused, sexually abused, and emotionally abused her. She has had two forensic interviews. one in 09 the other this year in April and no charges have been made. So we decided to take it a step farther and get her parental rights taken. This is what my step daughter wants. She has had no contact with her mom since 09. So we had our hearings and the mother has decided she wants to fight for her. Well she is still a heroin addict so we don't know is she will drive all the way to az because she lives in Ca. So anyways I was just wondering if anyone knows the Arizona system well enough to tell us if we have a shot and any advice anyone has. Thank you very much.

Your husband should really be discussing this with his attorney - and if he doesn't have one, he needs one.

Involuntary TPR is no easy task to accomplish, even with Mom's record - and apparently she is being given at least the chance to be heard.

 

[Landiera]

We have a free lawyer through the courts. Well actually the minor has a lawyer. We have tired asking her but she said at this time she doesn't know. She also seems to think we will get points against us because all our witnesses live in San Diego where everything happened. So they are going to be appearing over the phone and not in person. She thinks that will look bad. I dont see it that way though.

 

[Proserpina]

We have a free lawyer through the courts. Well actually the minor has a lawyer. We have tired asking her but she said at this time she doesn't know. She also seems to think we will get points against us because all our witnesses live in San Diego where everything happened. So they are going to be appearing over the phone and not in person. She thinks that will look bad. I dont see it that way though.

Listen to the attorney.

We honestly can't second guess the attorney - and we really can't guess which way this will go.

You might find that you've actually stirred up a hornet's nest in going after a TPR instead of letting things stay as is.

Are you all prepared for the possibility that Mom could become a regular part of kiddo's life?

 

[Landiera]

That is what we want. We want her to get her stuff together and become a mom to this little girl. We want her to leave her boyfriend and go to rehab. We have tried everything. She just wont listen. During the court hearing they didn't let us show them any forensic interview papers, or anything they just asked her is she wanted to go to trial and she said yes.

 

[Landiera]

lol btw what happens when you microwave grapes? They explode?

 

[Proserpina]

That is what we want. We want her to get her stuff together and become a mom to this little girl. We want her to leave her boyfriend and go to rehab. We have tried everything. She just wont listen. During the court hearing they didn't let us show them any forensic interview papers, or anything they just asked her is she wanted to go to trial and she said yes.

Trying to terminate Mom's rights isn't exactly showing Mom good faith in wanting her to be involved in kiddo's life.

I strongly suggest your husband gets his own attorney.

 

[Landiera]

Okay. Thank you very much for the advice. I have another question. So someone told us that we could sue the mom's boyfriend for the abuse and sexual abuse to put on my step daughter. No charges have been made against him after her two forensic interviews. He is getting away with everything. We dont want money from him but he should get in trouble for what he did. Would us doing a civil lawsuit do anything?

 

[Proserpina]

Okay. Thank you very much for the advice. I have another question. So someone told us that we could sue the mom's boyfriend for the abuse and sexual abuse to put on my step daughter. No charges have been made against him after her two forensic interviews. He is getting away with everything. We dont want money from him but he should get in trouble for what he did. Would us doing a civil lawsuit do anything?

So there is no conviction, no charges or anything?

What exactly did the interviews show?

WHO interviewed her and under what circumstances?

 

[Landiera]

She was interviewed first by San Diego Police Department. We had a dectictive and everything. It was when we first found out that they would spank her and leave bruises, and neglect her. So she told them that. After a few weeks he said he couldn't press charged. Then in April she tells me that her moms boyfriend put fingers inside her. She was telling me that he would make her wash his penis and it would get swollen. So I called cps and they did an interview. She told them all that and more. Things like them falling asleep on the curbs, them ' drinking drugs' So then we were told that they would be charged this time. Then no da would take the case and it was closed. So they got away with it all.

 

[Landiera]

The DA said they wouldnt take the case because the interviews were too far apart. One in 09 and then other this year.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Is the child in counseling?

 

[Landiera]

Yes, she is.

 

[mistoffolees]

That is what we want. We want her to get her stuff together and become a mom to this little girl.

I agree with Pro. You're sure choosing a strange way to get Mom involved with the child's life.

As for the lack of charges, talk with the District Attorney.

 

[Landiera]

I would agree with you but we have tried sooo many ways to help her. We tried to help her get her parenting class and drug assessment done, we tried to help her get into a rehab. We even tried to help her move out of her boyfriends. It jsut got harder to help her the more info we were getting. The more we were hearing about the drug abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, etc. It gets hard to help someone that did horrible things to a child. We did try though. This is the childs decision, not ours. She came to us asking for this. She wants to move past all this. Thank you for the help, I will look into it