How To Adopt A Child Thru Dswd

hi, steve kirshand a very tired yogi here withthe answer to today'sadoption question. the question is:"i am the grandparent of a child. the motherof the child has left the

How To Adopt A Child Thru Dswd, child with me, and i donot have any legal custody.what do i need to do?" the answer is,you need to get some sort of legal authorityto have the child.

being a caretaker ofa child is ok, if you are talking abouta day or two. but, once that child hasbeen with you for a number of days,weeks, months,or years, if you do nothave legal custody the parent of the childcould come back and take the child awayfrom you, and you would haveno protection.

so, at the very least,if you have custody of a child, you want to haveyourself appointed guardian of the child.that would allow you to obtain insurance coveragefor the child. it would allow you the protectionknowing the child would not leave your care withoutfurther court order. furthermore, there was arecent indiana supreme court case.it was the adoption of b.c.h.,in which a grandparent was

taking care of a childfor a number of years. the birth parent of thechild decided to have her new husband adopt thechild, and they did so, tried to do so without theconsent of the grandparent who had had custody ofthe child for a long time, but without legal custody.fortunately, for the grandparent, the indiana supreme courtheld that the grandparent needed to be involved inthe adoption process. the indiana supreme courtheld that "lawful custody" was

any custody arrangement,even though it was not court ordered, that was notunlawful. but, you do not want tofind yourself contesting a case all the way throughthe trial court, indiana court of appeals,and the supreme court to find out that you havesome right. the best procedure would beto have yourself appointed guardian of the child,or if your child is willing, and it is your intention,you could adopt the child.

i hope that is helpful.if you have any other questions yogi and i are alwayshere to answer them. thank you.