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My 11 year old step-daughter's mother (my fiance) passed away, and her grandmother has custody of her, and when ever Corina comes over she tells me about how much chaos and drama there is at her house with her cousins and her aunt and uncle and everyone in the household. I think that she needs to get away from that drama. This week she came over crying because her aunt said it was Corina's fault her mom died. You could imagine how that would make her upset. There where so many things that she told me that I can't even imagine my self, a grown man, dealing with the kind of stuff that goes on there. Also, If Corina would move in with me, she would go to a nice school district, she wouldn't have to worry about anything, because I've known her and her mother for 7 years now. I also think that her child support money should be saved up for a good education, Witch is hard when almost none of it goes towards her. She was wondering if and how we can try to get her to move in with me.
State/Country relating to Question: New York
DearCustomer- I think it would be very difficult for you to gain custody of a child who is no relation to you. I'm not certain if her father is in the picture but the courts would be very unlikely to award custody to someone who technically was never even her stepfather. You certainly can file a motion with the court but she is too young to be heard as to a choice of where she wants to live. The other problem that could occur is if you attempt to do this you could cause the grandmother to prohibit her from visiting you and you would have no standing to get the court to award you visitation causing even more angst in her life. Dave Kennett
Her dad pays her support, but doesn't have any contact, and does not wish to have any. Is there some possible way we can go to court with an attorney to speak for her and tell the courts what she wants and whats been happening? Her mother told her she had an attorney appointed to her, and when she asked her grandmother she said she knew nothing about it.
If you file a motion for custody the court would appoint an attorney called a "guardian ad litem" to represent the interests of the child. You can have an attorney represent your interests and the grandmother can be represented. I'm not saying you don't have any chance but based on my experience it is rare that a child would be placed outside the family to a single man with no legal relationship. As I said above, you could not only lose the court case but lose the opportunity to even see the girl through informal visits. If you could get the grandmother to agree to the plan that is a different situation but a contested hearing is taking a big risk. Dave
Lawyer (JD)
25 years experience in general law, including real estate, criminal, traffic, and domestic relations