Messages

*smiles* You should always ask the advise of good friends!

Thank you Waylon *hugs*  I'm glad to be back!  (especially on the other side of the fence!)  *LOL*

sorry!  My grandson will be residing with "his" dad (my son)

Sly

Its amazing how many names I remember, and how much I felt at home logging back in today!  SD graduates from high school in a couple weeks!  Can you believe it?  We had her guardianship termination hearing earlier this week and she is now an adult!  Her dad would be so proud of her.  I cant tell you how many times I wish he were here to see her today, its just what he had looked forward to all during that horrible fight for all those years. She is going to go on to school to study Art Therapy so she can help other kids that had the same sorts of struggles she did and I am encouraging her to sign up and become a CASA volunteer.  She would be amazing at it with all the experience she had growing up!.

But I have another issue that brought me here today again,  My sons exgirlfriend has decided to turn my 11 year old grandson over to his dad.  This will be voluntary and I was wondering if any of you had suggestions on wording to have her sign that will help him moving forward.  He understands he will have to deal with custody and child support on two different levels but wants to have some sort of document she can sign turning over custody.  I knew you good people would be full of suggestions!

Looking forward to catching up!

Sly/Shellie

Soc,

We had the California guardianship where the guardians divorced due to domestic violence in the home and the "guardian father" moving all 6 children including SD into his parents home.

We filed to terminate for the 2nd time due to changed circumstances.

Well the hearing was the 20th and we lost yet again... The judge said in his ruling that he was sure my husband would be a "great dad" and he wanted to commend me on my testimony and stated my SD was "lucky" to have me as a mother figure BUT that due to the passage of time, and the fact that my 14yo SD wanted to stay where she was, he had to rule against us.

The lesson we have learned here is never ever ever assume that a guardianship will be temporary and you can have your child returned after you are back on your feet... in California your rights as a parent fall WAY down the line.

In one fell swoop my husband lost his wife (she died) and his daughter, she was hidden and abused for YEARS but because they managed to keep her long enough for her to bond they get to keep her...

Oh and BTW... they get about $1500 a month to have her there each and every month... not bad I would say!

We have the hearing.  It is scheduled for the 20th of June.  What we need is how to convince the judge that the best interest of the child is to be with her "real" dad where she is our only focus not as a group of 6 children living with their "grandparents" due to domestic violence.

The guardian has also stated he will be living with his parents for at least another year while he continues his education and works as a teacher.

The child most likely wont waive privilege as she feels torn between us and the guardians.  That was why we wondered if we could subpoena the atty to talk about the guardians only, not SD's and atty's relationship.

Do you have any thoughts that might take a better track?

SLY

Dear Soc,

I think you will remember we had the California guardianship where the host mom and dad ended up divorcing when the "mom" threw a knife at the "dad" causing a pretty severe injury. We filed to terminate based on changed circumstance and best interest of the child as there was also some indication that the "host mom" had previously at least threatened my SD with a knife as well.

There are documented reports of the "host mother" hearing voices and seeing spirits.

In the first hearing to terminate, the male guardian's lawyer stated that my SD (and the other 5 children) had been removed from the home and all were now living with him at his parents home. So the immediate danger had been resolved. The judge set another date in late June for a contested hearing. The judge said the question was, did the host father know that the "mom" was a danger to her children (and my SD) and only did something when he himself was injured, or, was he completely unaware of the situation, and moved the children away from the danger once he became aware.

We believe that his job as a teacher in California trains him to look for the signs of abuse, as he is a mandatory reporter of child abuse, and as such he HAD, or should have known and/or been aware. So what we want is some independent testimony, showing that he witnessed events that could only be described as abusive.

 My SD had a court appointed lawyer who resigned due to the inability to work with the "host mom". We want to subpoena her to testify.

I understand that there is lawyer/client privilege between my SD and her lawyer, My question is,  would we be able to subpoena this lawyer to question her along the lines of the contacts she had with the guardians? We believe she would testify to yelling and screaming and the continuing unwillingness of the husband to "control" the abusive actions of his wife.

Thanks for your time and opinions,

SLY

Sending the letter to the judge was his secretarys suggestion.

We intend to give them one more week to respond and then we will file, for better or worse

Soc,

I am sure you will remember we have the guardianship in California, we live in Washington St.

There has been a domestic violence incident and a divorce petition filed by the guardians.  SD is currently living with "host dad" and 5 children at the home of host dads parents, she did change schools with this move.  None of this information was shared with the court.

We wanted to file a new petition to terminate pro per due to the changed circumstances and were advised by a lawyer in that county that we shouldnt, that "they do things their way in that county" and that we couldnt win representing ourselves.

We did send a letter to the judge notifying all other parties as well so the judge would know we were concerned and not just doing nothing.

My Question:

1. Is it a given that we will lose if we file pro per?  We have done pretty well with this court on our own since trial after ditching our lawyer $45,000 later.

2.  Is there something we can do to improve our pro per chances?

It is my belief that if we do nothing we lose anyway, at least if we file we have a chance!

I asked for a police report on a specific person and was denied.  Would it work to ask for the address of the incident?  I had a case number and everything.  I was told by the sheriff's dept that since I wasnt the criminal or the victim the report wasnt accessible by me.

SLY