T
Texasrose
Guest
Thanks in advance for reading and replying to this. I am 28 years old and have been married for 8 years. I am a full time employee and full time student. My husband and I have no children. I do however have a sister with two children; a boy, age 2 and a girl, age 1. She is living with the father who is an abuser and is on record here in the state of Georgia and Tennessee as violent and in need of counseling. My sister has received therapy and reports show she is an unfit mother; this is said because she will not take care of herself and deal with her emotional problems and not because the children are mistreated. In her defense, she is a good mother when she has stability around her and is away from the father. My parents have had the children in their home about 70% of the year and do not mind this. However, they do not want to legally take guardianship or adoption of the children. This week during an arguement between my sister and her boyfriend, my mother went to pick up the children. My sister allowed her to take the children knowing they would not be returned to her as long as she is with the young man and in his house. My sister has not bothered to call to see about the children or come visit. The father is no longer allowed at my parents house due to the harrassment he continues to ply my parents with. My parents are asking me to speak with a lawyer about getting full custody of the children or legal guardianship. This is not a problem for me or my spouse since we would be more than happy to have them in our home. The children have been around us as much as they have my parents so there would be no problem with them getting accustomed to us or our home. My question is can I legally get custody of the children without the parents consent? What if the mother consents and not the father? The father is not on record as the childrens biological father. He does not pay child support on these 2 but has to pay support on his 2 girls from a previous marriage. He is behind on his payments and never goes to see the girls. He is a known drug abuser and cannot keep a steady job. I do not want to emotionally hurt my sister but I see no other way in making sure the children are protected from any further emotional damage. They are young but the 2 year old already understands that his daddy hurts his mommy. At times, the boy cant even look his mother in the eyes because he hurts when she hurts. Would this constitute as an unfit enviornment for the children? I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect the children but I know that I will have to legally fight with the father who has his mothers money behind him to support his legal costs and whatever else he will need. Are there any resources out there that may help with the financial aspect of this type of problem? Sorry this is so long!