Custody & Kidnapping

[IF IT’S ABOUT PARENTS SIGNING AN AGREEMENT FOR ONE TO HAVE CUSTODY] If you are asking if parents can just draw up a written, notarized agreement between them as to custody of the child, notarizing an agreement generally serves to prove that the people who signed it actually signed it and that no signatures were forged. Although I cannot speak to your specific situation, an out-of-court agreement may not be enforceable by police or courts if one parent “violates” it since it is not a court order. In general, a custody court will enforce its own orders or a court order issued by another court. To get specific advice about what remedies you may have if the other parent goes against the terms of the agreement, you may want to talk to a lawyer for advice. Sometimes when parents are able to reach an agreement about custody (where the child will live, when s/he will get to see the other parent, etc.), it may not be too difficult or costly to file a custody petition and ask the judge to turn it into an order. Some states may allow a person to attach the agreed-upon order to the custody petition to ask the judge to “so order” the agreement and make it into an order whereas in other states, it may not be that simple. To get advice about what options may be available to you, you may want to talk to an attorney.

We have some information about the custody law in STATE in case that is useful. [HYPERLINK]

[IF IT’S ABOUT ONE PARENT SIGNING AN AGREEMENT TO GIVE CUSTODY TO A NON-PARENT:]
If you are asking whether or not a parent can sign an agreement to give custody of the child to another person (who is not the parent), there are often different options when it comes to providing another with the power to care for a child - some may involve going to court and some may not. Although I cannot speak to STATE laws in particular, in many states, temporary custody and guardianship orders go through the courts and are orders that have to be signed by a judge. With custody, generally a person who wants custody may need to file for temporary custody and both parents would be served with the court papers and have a chance to appear in court and to consent or object. Parents generally have first right to custody and so sometimes if one parent wants another person to have custody, the other parent may object and have the first right to custody. Again, I cannot say for sure what the process is like in STATE because I am not specifically knowledgeable about STATE’s laws. [CHECK CUSTODY INFO FOR QUES ABOUT GIVING CUSTODY TO THIRD PARTY - LINK TO THAT QUESTION IF WE HAVE IT. IF NOT - SAY] We do have some information on custody in STATE on our website, but it only addresses general custody issues between parents, not necessarily giving custody temporarily to a third party. [HYPERLINK]

Another way that sometimes a parent may give another person power to make decisions over a child is through signing a power of attorney form, which are often done in front of a notary as opposed to going through a court. Although we do not have any information about power of attorney, I did find a website that seems to explain the power of attorney for custody form, although please know that we are not affiliated with that site and cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information contained on it. [NOTE TO STUDENT, SUBSTITUTE THE EMAILER’S STATE IN THE URL WHERE IT SAYS TEXAS]

It is often best to get advice from an attorney when dealing with custody issues. Perhaps you may be able to ask an attorney about the pros and cons of trying to get a temporary custody order versus a temporary guardianship versus signing a power of attorney. You can find free and low cost lawyers on our website. [HYPERLINK]