Jurisdiction:
Area of Law:
Question:
Selected Answer:
Let’s look at this in three
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
All Comments
Let’s look at this in three
Submitted by DakotaLegal on
Let’s look at this in three basic categories: (1) the rights you want to have and (2) the rights you are worried about losing, and (3) important court cases in Oklahoma regarding custody.
1. How Best to Get Legal Custody
The age, sex, and maturity of the children are going to be crucial. But as with most states, Oklahoma will talk about protecting the “best interest of the children.” http://www.okdhs.org/programsandservices/cps/ .This best interest test is going to be more and more important, since more than 4 million kids are now being raised by their grandparents.
Find out what the Oklahoma’s special workers look at, when it comes to evaluating the welfare of the children. Be ready to discuss your parenting style and how you improve: http://fcs.okstate.edu/parenting/discipline/teachers/Discipline_Methods_...
You will want to document your role in caring for the kids. This will be some things you’d expect (medical care) and some things you can’t put a price on (the amount of time you spend with them, helping with homework and shopping). This means you should keep receipts of what you spend, and also a diary devoted to explaining what kind of time you spend. Be careful that as you keep these records you don’t confuse your goals: this evidence is not to show how badly the natural parents are doing as parents, but how the kids you care for are being protected and nurtured. Be sure this diary is not a “personal” or emotional tale….just the facts. The idea is to show your willingness (or any other significant party who is involved with child care) and ability to care for the kids. This keeps the focus on the kids’ well-being and not your own interests or emotional attachment. Once again, this is about the “best interest” of the kids---not your best interests. There are dozens of ways to prove this through legal documentation:
http://familyrights.us/ceciles_packets/oklahoma.htm
2. Existing Rights As A Grandparent.
We’ll talk in a minute about any legal rights of grandparents. What we’re going to talk about first is something that’s a bit different than purely legal rights…it’s the rights kids have to benefit from your natural family affection. There are preferences to keep “families” intact. This helps grandparents who have been vital parts of parenting their grandkids. Unfortunately, you need to know that Oklahoma has recently acted to reverse some rights grandparents had won, which had let them gain even visitation in Oklahoma: http://mkdyer.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/oklahoma-supreme-court-clarifies-... .
Keep in mind, this is only a guideline to winning custody and not just visitation…the evidence you have going for you to prove your relationship is going to be based as much on your existing “parental” role as being a grandparent. In other words, custody is probably going to be based on stressing the children’s needs, and not your status as a grandparent.
In deciding custody, courts often use as a test whether a parent will promote attachments to the extended family. This is only one factor, but in many cases it also shows a healthy ability to promote a child’s natural affections and growth. It sounds as though you have had special concerns about the safety of the kids, based on the background of the parents. You may have to explain, though, wherever there has bene any effort on your part to interfere with the parents seeing the kids. There are also free legal aid services in Oklahoma that can help: http://www.legalaidok.org/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Services .
3. Court Cases In Oklahoma Custody Cases
The US Supreme Court looked at what rights grandparents have to see their own grandkids. This was done over a decade ago in an important Washington state case: Troxel v. Granville, which was in the year 2000. That case struck down a Washington State law giving grandparents some rights to visitation to their grandkids. But since then, three other state courts have expanded rights of grandparents to see their grandkids…and that’s only addressing the question of visitation. Check out those three state decisions (Utah, Pennsylvania, and Colorado): http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2006-09-12-grandparents... .Your argument is perhaps even stronger, if you can prove (through the types of evidence we’ve talked about here) that you have been actually caring for and raising the kids, and that this has benefitted those kids.
Let’s look at this in three basic categories: (1) the rights you want to have and (2) the rights you are worried about losing, and (3) important court cases in Oklahoma regarding custody.
1. How Best to Get Legal Custody
The age, sex, and maturity of the children are going to be crucial. But as with most states, Oklahoma will talk about protecting the “best interest of the children.” http://www.okdhs.org/programsandservices/cps/ .This best interest test is going to be more and more important, since more than 4 million kids are now being raised by their grandparents.
Find out what the Oklahoma’s special workers look at, when it comes to evaluating the welfare of the children. Be ready to discuss your parenting style and how you improve: http://fcs.okstate.edu/parenting/discipline/teachers/Discipline_Methods_...
You will want to document your role in caring for the kids. This will be some things you’d expect (medical care) and some things you can’t put a price on (the amount of time you spend with them, helping with homework and shopping). This means you should keep receipts of what you spend, and also a diary devoted to explaining what kind of time you spend. Be careful that as you keep these records you don’t confuse your goals: this evidence is not to show how badly the natural parents are doing as parents, but how the kids you care for are being protected and nurtured. Be sure this diary is not a “personal” or emotional tale….just the facts. The idea is to show your willingness (or any other significant party who is involved with child care) and ability to care for the kids. This keeps the focus on the kids’ well-being and not your own interests or emotional attachment. Once again, this is about the “best interest” of the kids---not your best interests. There are dozens of ways to prove this through legal documentation:
http://familyrights.us/ceciles_packets/oklahoma.htm
2. Existing Rights As A Grandparent.
We’ll talk in a minute about any legal rights of grandparents. What we’re going to talk about first is something that’s a bit different than purely legal rights…it’s the rights kids have to benefit from your natural family affection. There are preferences to keep “families” intact. This helps grandparents who have been vital parts of parenting their grandkids. Unfortunately, you need to know that Oklahoma has recently acted to reverse some rights grandparents had won, which had let them gain even visitation in Oklahoma: http://mkdyer.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/oklahoma-supreme-court-clarifies-... .
Keep in mind, this is only a guideline to winning custody and not just visitation…the evidence you have going for you to prove your relationship is going to be based as much on your existing “parental” role as being a grandparent. In other words, custody is probably going to be based on stressing the children’s needs, and not your status as a grandparent.
In deciding custody, courts often use as a test whether a parent will promote attachments to the extended family. This is only one factor, but in many cases it also shows a healthy ability to promote a child’s natural affections and growth. It sounds as though you have had special concerns about the safety of the kids, based on the background of the parents. You may have to explain, though, wherever there has bene any effort on your part to interfere with the parents seeing the kids. There are also free legal aid services in Oklahoma that can help: http://www.legalaidok.org/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Services .
3. Court Cases In Oklahoma Custody Cases
The US Supreme Court looked at what rights grandparents have to see their own grandkids. This was done over a decade ago in an important Washington state case: Troxel v. Granville, which was in the year 2000. That case struck down a Washington State law giving grandparents some rights to visitation to their grandkids. But since then, three other state courts have expanded rights of grandparents to see their grandkids…and that’s only addressing the question of visitation. Check out those three state decisions (Utah, Pennsylvania, and Colorado): http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2006-09-12-grandparents... .Your argument is perhaps even stronger, if you can prove (through the types of evidence we’ve talked about here) that you have been actually caring for and raising the kids, and that this has benefitted those kids.