Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Regaining Guardianshp
I had to give up gaurdianship of my son to enter the military. I have recently been given permission to regain guardianship. How do I do this? Do I have to hire an attorney or is there a simpler way?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Regaining Guardianshp
You did not give up guardianship of your son but may have given up custody(I will not go into the difference here) of the boy to some other person(perhaps, a relative). If this transfer of custody was done pursuant to a court order, the order will need to be modified or vacated to allow you to regain custody of your son.
If there was no formal order from a court governing this matter, all you need do is make a request to the person who now has custody of the boy that this person return him to you.
Of course, if it's the boy's mother who actually has custody, the matter will have to go through the appropriate court.
Re: Regaining Guardianshp
As has likely pointed out you are talking about custody. If custody has been awarded for whatever reason by a Court to another perso, then the only way to change it is to file a Motion to Amend a Prior Court Order in the court that issued the prior Order. You must serve this Motion upon the mother, father and person who has custody if these aren't the same people.
If the custodian wants to give custody back to you it still has to go through the Court systew, and I never advise anyone to walk into Court without a lawyer because you never know what people are going to do.
Good luck.