Mother of my children died

[barkertl]

I found out the mother of my children died last week. Her parents are trying to keep the kids from me. I was under the impression that I now have the rights to the kids. They have known that i never stopped wanting my children. Any one have any advice or know what i can do?

[Kitty C.]

Yes, you must petition the court immediately for full legal and physical custody.  Do you currently have at least joint legal custody?  Does your current order allow you visitation or joint physical custody?  If so, then you have a good chance at getting custody.  

If you do NOT have any rights per current CO, then you have an uphill battle.  You will need to prove you have an established relationship with the children.  If you do manage to get custody, you might very likely have to give some vistation rights to the grandparents.  

One other thing to remember:  now that the mother is gone, if you are paying CS, you must get that stopped as well by CO.  ONLY if the grandparents get full custody can they demand CS from you and they must petition the courts for it....the CS paid to the mother doesn't automatically revert to them.  Also, your children are entitled to Social Security survivor benefits.  If you get custody, you will need a copy of the death certificate in order to apply for it.  You do not need to get that from the grandparents.........you can request a copy (for a fee) from the county the death certificate is filed in.

You need an atty., preferably in the county or city the mother died in, if you don't already live in the same area.  It sounds like you might have a legal battle on your hands.