Community› The Bump Message Boards› Blended Families
Blended Families
New Discussion

Question about guardianship needed for school

twinkl5379twinkl5379 member
in Blended Families
Hello - I haven't been on the board for a while, but I have a ? that I thought this board may be able to answer. It's related to my nieces rather than my s-kids this time. If you all remember me from quite a while back, things were getting bad w/ my sister-n-law and brother a couple of years ago. They've continued to worsen over the past year to the point where my brother now has full legal custody of their 4 kids. I'm very close to the kids, esp. the 2 oldest girls (8 and 12).

However, I live several states away from them, but there's a MUCH better quality of life here. My brother has my parent's help but is very overwhelmed right now with all that has happened. So I offered to have the 2 oldest come live with me, and put them in school here. They just spent 3 wks this summer here, and visit 2x a year and I'm very close with them as is my husband. Both girls say they want to do this...they had a GREAT time this summer.

So my question is if we do this...would we have a problem enrolling them in school here if we don't go through the courts to obtain legal guardianship? Will they question this? Of course, my brother is hurt over making this decision but wants to do what is best for the girls. I haven't talked to him yet about guardianship b/c we thought we'd "try" it for a semester to see how it goes. He doesn't want to have them live here forever; in fact, he's thinking of trying to relocate here in a year or so as well, but in the meantime, we want to give them a stable environment. Any insight is appreciated.
Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
Report Reply to Post

Re: Question about guardianship needed for school

  • SueBearSueBear member
    The answer may depend on the state that you live in.  I would look up the registration papers in your school district - often they are online.

    In the registration papers for our school district (in NJ), it says "living with a parent or guardian," but it does not say LEGAL guardian.  Also (in my state - not sure about yours), if you are not a guardian but are caring for the children without compensation as if they were your own child due to economic or family hardship on your brother's part, that is also eligible.  

    I think it is really wonderful that you are stepping up to take care of your nieces in this way - but you should check with the state/district to make sure you are doing everything the right way.




    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • FinallyHappy84FinallyHappy84 member
    Have you looked into doing.temporary power of attorney that your brother can assign to you...I would opt for this so that all your bases are covered including getting medical treatment for the girls. I don't know how power of attorney works with two different states but I think you have it drafted and notarized in the state you live in.
    Report Reply
  • RuppAFWifeRuppAFWife member
    I've had a very similar issue. My younger (by 12 years) sister wanted to live with my and my husband after our mom and her dad divorced. Which my mom was completely ok with and gave me a Special POA to enroll her in school and medical (two separate POAs). Well we're military so we moved a bit. The POA was perfectly fine for Texas, Arizona and Colorado but Maryland was very nasty about it and said we needed a court order declaring my mother unfit and giving me custody before they could enroll her in school. So...it's totally up to the state. If you call the local school's registrars office they can tell you exactly what you need or at least connect you to the office that can again each state has a different office handle this type of stuff.
    imageimage
    Report Reply
  • ambrvanambrvan member
    No advice in a situation like this, but I wanted to say hi and I hope things are going well for you, Twink.
    Report Reply
  • Dfarmer1019Dfarmer1019 member
    I have guardianship of my niece and nephews. Before I took them, my mom had POA over them and enrolled them in school with that. I also obtained a POA before I gained guardianship, and that was my proof for enrolling them in school. My advice would be to at least get a POA. I am not sure how it would work being in different states. Having a POA would make things a lot easier and would give you the right to have them seen in case something medical happens.
    Report Reply
  • ldmessingldmessing member
    ditto to the documentation that will allow you to administer medical care
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"