When Grandparents Step In

When parents abandon the caregiving duties of a child and grandparents step in they are faced with a mountain of bureaucratic problems to navigate. If they are struggling themselves and can’t afford an attorney they must turn to the family law court self-help center. There may be public law center assistance, but those organizations are usually understaffed. Just because the parents drop off the baby and take off leaving perhaps a notarized document, it’s not the same as a court ordered guardianship. It’s critical to stabilize the situation by correctly filing for temporary or permanent custody in order to avoid the pitfalls that can occur without legal measures.