Becoming the legal guardian of a child means this: you become the legal guardian for a child due to their natural parents being unable to care for them. Legal guardianship can be temporary or more long-term and usually stays in place until the parents challenge guardianship to get their children back or you relinquish your rights. Common reasons for a non-parent adult to obtain legal guardianship for a child include child abandonment, incarceration, mental or physical instability, addiction, or other issues.
Many people raise children who aren't theirs, such as grandparents raising grandchildren, without obtaining actual legal guardianship. This practice comes with a lot of risk and hardship to the children involved, however; should you hire a family law attorney for an agreed-upon guardianship? Here is a guide that helps you understand how a family law attorney can help.
You need legal rights to sign for the children
Are the children involved able to go to school? If so, you need legal rights to any children in your care because only a parent or legal guardian can set up children in school and make decisions on their behalf. Likewise for taking children to the doctor or dentist for their regular care. Even if a parent has given you permission to raise and care for their kids, you need the legal documents proclaiming that so you can represent the involved offspring appropriately.
You need legal rights for the comfort of the children
The children in your care need to know they have a permanent place to call their own while still knowing they have their parents, which is something legal guardianship can provide. The main difference between legal guardianship and adoption is this: when you obtain legal guardianship for children, their parents still remain legally responsible for their offspring and still have parental rights, which allows the children you care for to know they can still access their parents while having proper care. Your family law attorney will further help you understand how legal guardianship benefits both you and the children under your care.
You need legal rights to obtain assistance for the child
When you have a child in your care, they can receive child support, health insurance, or other assistance via the government or their parents. In order to represent the child and get access to the assistance anyone in your care receives, you have to obtain legal guardianship. A family law attorney will assist you in the process of applying for legal guardianship of a child that can last up until the child is a legal adult.
You love your family. You want your kids to have what is best, and you are willing to fight for them to the very end. Thankfully, there are professionals out there who are able to support you and do the same. They're called family lawyers. Although they typically handle a lot of divorce cases, you can call upon them for other family-related legal needs, too. They oversee adoptions, draft custody agreements, and so much more. We hope you will read the articles on this blog, which delve deeper into these topics. You'll emerge knowing more about hiring such an attorney.