How to get guardianship of my niece while both parents are in jail

[michellepaduani]

My niece's mother might go to jail and her father is currently in jail and has legal joint custody but has never been a part of the child's life. He does not want to take her even if he wasn't incarcerated. Can my sister sign documents that say if something happens to her, her child can go to my husband and I instead of the child's father? If she doesn't sign anything and something happens to her, what happens to the child? Do they automatically go to next of kin if the father signs off rights, or do they go immediately into foster care?

My niece is in IN and we live in MS.

 

[army judge]

My niece's mother might go to jail and her father is currently in jail and has legal joint custody but has never been a part of the child's life. He does not want to take her even if he wasn't incarcerated. Can my sister sign documents that say if something happens to her, her child can go to my husband and I instead of the child's father? If she doesn't sign anything and something happens to her, what happens to the child? Do they automatically go to next of kin if the father signs off rights, or do they go immediately into foster care?

My niece is in IN and we live in MS.

You need to go to court to seek guardianship.

Without a court order, the child will be taken by social services and placed in foster care.

Mom can sign anything, but it will be useless.

Children are not chattel, they can't be signed over to others like cows, goats, or pigs.

Children aren't property, they are human beings.

You want to legally protect those children, you go to court and get guardianship.

Talk to mom, and you and mom go see a lawyer in Indiana, not Mississippi.