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Guardianship Responsibilities and Limitations A court will not usually grant guardianship to someone unless one or both biological parents are unable or unwilling to care for their child. Get a guardianship form from the clerk's office. Complete the form and attach other documentation. File the petition and send a copy to the biological parent. Attend the hearing. Divorce is never easy, but we can help. Learn more. References SupportGuidelines. Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein, P.
C: Legal Rights of Stepparents. Related Articles. The answer to this question can depend on the state in which you are filing for divorce. However, in most cases, stepparents have a steep uphill battle in retaining visitation rights for their step children. In most states and courts, the biological parent is considered the best-suited individual to make decisions regarding who their children spend time with.
Known as the parental preference rule, or the doctrine of parental rights, this standard can make it extremely difficult for any non-parent figure including stepparents, grandparents, etc. Of course, as with any standard, there are exceptions to the parental preference rule. If the biological parents have a poor relationship, trying to instigate an adoption may cause unnecessary strife and place undue stress on the child.
Instead of adoption, step-parents in joint custody arrangements may wish to pursue legal guardianship. Step-parents who act as legal guardians have more legal jurisdiction, but obtaining a legal guardianship doesn't require either biological parent to forfeit their rights to a child.
However, obtaining a legal guardianship if both parents are competent and involved in the child's life can be difficult , and most legal guardianships only last until a child becomes an adult. If a child's biological parents die or become unfit to care for their child, a step-parent can also act In Loco Parentis Latin for "in place of a parent".
However, in a joint custody arrangement, parental rights will often default to one biological parent if the other dies or becomes unfit for custody. Frequently, both biological parents must either be deceased or unable to care for a child for a step-parent to act In Loco Parentis. The court will of course also consider the relationship that the stepparent and the stepchild maintain, the length of that relationship, and the amount of care the stepfather has provided for the stepchild.
Again, there are many cases in which stepparents and stepchildren do not acknowledge the fact that they are not related biologically, and love and care for each other just as biologically related children and parents would. In this case, it is not unlikely that the stepfather would be awarded at least partial custody of the child.
If you are a stepfather who is getting a divorce in Virginia, you may be very worried about how the divorce will affect your relationship with your stepchildren.
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