questions & answers

Question: My wife is in jail and I was filling for full guardianship of our son and I just found out he is not my son. I sent her a copy of the test and now her mother took our son out of state is there anything I can do I love my son and dont want to lose him?

Answer: - In some specific instances, guardianship may not be required for parental rights of a child. Sometimes, even if the parent is not the biological parent, he or she could have adopted the child through marriage; this could give the non-biological parent, parental rights to the child. In Arizona, the law provides that a person who stands in loco parentis to a child may ask the court for custody or parenting time. To be in loco parentis a person must have been considered a parent by the child and have formed a meaningful parental relationship with the child for a substantial period of time. There are other requirements that must be met before a request may be made to the court. One of the child's parents must be deceased, the child's legal parents must be unmarried, or a court case for divorce or legal separation between the legal parents must be pending. Additional information regarding child custody can be found under Title 25 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. (Information taken from Child Custody Article here).  If Guardianship is still needed, the forms may be found here.