Guardianship

I am an adoptive mom, if it is right for your family I encourage you to adopt your sister's baby rather than go the guardianship route. Women who have the courage to even consider adoption need and deserve the support of adoptive parents. I would suggest you seek the counsel of a good adoption attorney (Susan Paquett is one in Ft. worth, I also know of others) to make sure all of the paper work is completed correctly in order to protect the baby. If papers are not in order prior to the birth the baby will go into dhs custody. Please feel free to contact me if you would like some support or need additional information. ###-###-#### L.

Contact Tanette Fillmore ###-###-####. She is a family law attorney who works in Fort Worth.

When I moved to Texas I brought with me a newborn baby from California that I was planning to adopt. This lawyer took care of my entire "out of state" adoption for only $1500. I believe that our consultation cost $50.00. She would tell you what you should do and see that it gets done correctly. I got so much run-around and people who did not know how to handle the situation when I called the state agencies.

Catrina:

I doubt you can actually get guardianship before the baby is born. I would recommend you contact an adoption attorney here to ask these questions. You will need an attorney at some point and they can help you understand the process. Temporary conservatorship could be done by TMC (Temporary managing conservatorship) via family courts/child protective services which could be changed then to PMC (Permanent) and adoption. Because this is across state lines, I'm not sure how it would work. But contact an attorney to help you through the process. You will need one eventually to adopt anyway through family courts. If the baby goes into foster care temporarily, the foster system always looks to place children with family members so they will not overlook you but I would work with an attorney now to work through some of that.

Good luck!

Are her other children already in the care of DHS? That is usually the only way they would place a newborn baby. To give an opinion on guardianship vs adoption, I think we would need to know more infornmation.

I would definatly consult a lawyer about this one. Usually you can't do anything until there is an actual birth certificate but he might be able to draw up some kind of legal papers that will help. I know a friend of mine had legal papers giving custody of her child to her sister if anything were to happen to her during birth. He will also be able to tell you what the best thing to do about the whole adoption thing is. My mom and Stepdad adopted a little boy who was born last Oct and they didn't have to pay anything cause the birth mom filled out the birth certificate at the hospital in their names instead of hers. So as soon as she signed the papers for the birth certficate the chold was automatically and legaly my parents. Maybe this would keep the child from being able to be taken by the state. Hope all goes well for everyone.

Try calling either DHS in Oklahoma or Texas. The number to DHS in Durant Oklahoma is ###-###-#### that is probably not where your sister lives but they will be able to tell you what you need to do. Good luck!!

Legally, this is a very sticky situation. You need to contact a family lawyer or adoption lawyer. You should not soley rely on what people from mammasource.com will tell you. They will not know the ins and outs of the legal system. Especially if you are talking about the possibility of the baby going into dhs custody. That is the LAST thing you want to happen. If I were you I would contact a lawyer right away. You may need to make sure that the forms are completed properly, on time, etc. Good luck.