Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: How can I take away my mother's parental rights?

Dear Inquirer:

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web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD hearings and appeals, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry; however, I would

say that what you want to do is very fact sensitive and "tricky." I doubt that you can accomplish what you want to do without the help of a lawyer. I would suggest that you consult with a lawyer who practices both probate law (death, disability) and family law (disability, unfitnessness). In the event of your death and probably disability you can designate someone in advance to be guardian of your child (with the court's subsequent approval) but I'm not sure that you can do so before you have a child. With respect to being found unfit, I would think you would have a lot less control over who the juvenile dependency or family court would designate. And then there's the whole issue of the child's biological/presumed/legal father's rights.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: How can I take away my mother's parental rights?

You can do this by a written nomination of guardian--it's usually done in a will, but can be done outside of it. You should also name several alternates in case your first choice can't serve and your mother then petitions to be appointed guardian. The nomination should also state that you do not wish your mother to have any guardian rights.

As a note, the child's father, if he survives you, has the first rights to act as guardian regardless of any nomination you make.