Joint Legal Custody with Grandparent and Parent

[chevychyk]

I am a single parent living with my parents (the child's grandparents). I was looking into sharing custody with them as they play such an important role in her life. What would be the benefits and drawbacks to doing this? Also, what would be the implications for the father who has choosen to not be in the picture? If he decided down the road he wanted custody or visitation, how would that change things? Also, I hope to be able to file for child support from him, would that not permit me to do so anymore?

 

[Duranie]

Well I can guarantee you Dad is not going to want to pay the grandparents support. He can certainly ask for joint custody over the grandparents. Your parents really have no rights to the child so it is going to be hard for them to legally secure joint since they are not the parents, and you cannot give them legal rights over Dad.

If I were you, I would go ahead and file for custody, that way you can receive support. I don't think trying to give your parents joint custody is a good idea. However, if the child is going to be with your grandparents half of the time, Dad can also dispute this in court and your grandparents are going to want financial support as well, so maybe you can make a deal with them to give them a portion of the support.

Dad at any time can petition the courts for visitation or custody but the bottom line is, thery do not have more rights than Dad and you cannot boot Dad out of the picture. He must go to court though if he wanta rights.