Legal Question in Family Law in Wisconsin

Can a judge order a grandparent who has has temporary custody of her biological grandchild for the majority of his life to legally adopt the child? The grandparent prefers to have permanent custody granted. She already has permanent custody of the sibling and wishes to have the same set up with this child. The courts are stalling on the Termination of Parental Rights (even though both parents have agreed to give the grandparent the guardianship) and keep forcing the issue of adoption. The grandparent is willing to give up all monetary compensation (CHIPS program) and will assume full responsibility for the monetary needs of the child. This is happening in the Milwaukee County court system .This has been drawn out for almost three years.


Asked on 6/11/10, 4:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeffrey Murrell Law Office of Jeffrey L. Murrell

A judge cannot order someone to adopt a child. But the problem is that we cannot TPR a biological parent who is agreeing to the TPR without another adult standing by ready, willing and able to adopt the child in question. If the grandparent here is so willing to "assume full responsibility" of the child without financial compensation, then that grandparent shouldn't have a problem with adopting the child.

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Answered on 6/12/10, 8:52 am


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