Question asked on Dec. 29, 2020

Q: My sister in law got her kids taken from cps because the youngest got a hold of edibles, they were called from my father in law because he was mad so he ended up calling the cops and cps. They took the other kids, they’ve just barely got to cps and they’re barely finding foster parents. She’s asking me if I can get temporary custody of the unborn child that she has. She’s about to be due in a couple of days and I wanted to know what kind of paper work we can do to get it set up and sign.

A: This probably will not work.  The statutes for adoption, guardianship, and custody are all set up to address “children” — i.e., kids who have already been born.  If an adoption case, for example, was filed pre-birth, it would automatically be “stayed” until the child was actually born.

That said, you could have an attorney prepare all paperwork for an adoption or guardianship now, and simply execute/file the paperwork immediately after birth.  You should read up on both of those, as well as Termination of Parental Rights cases, all of which you can read about here.  Then you should consult with a qualified family law specialist, in this office or another, to go over all of your options.