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<p>Law Office of<br>
<strong>F.ANDREKITA SILVA</strong><br>
<strong>____________________________________________ </strong><br>
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November 12, 2021<br>
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The court must make an appointment that is in the child’s best interest. A court will consider the wishes of the deceased parent. However, if one parent is still alive, by operation of law, the surviving parent becomes the child’s custodial parent. Even if the surviving parent only had a couple days a month under a parenting plan order.<br>
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If one parent is still living, but some other interested family member thinks surviving parent is really not in child’s best interest, that interested party can petition the court for guardianship. The bio parent has the constitutional right to the care and custody of their bio child so the evidence has to be pretty heavy against them (like abuse, neglect, etc.).<br>
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Under the new statute, children over the age of 12 can be appointed a lawyer if they want one, and the court will commonly appoint a guardian ad litem if the guardianship is disputed (and there is a well founded basis for the dispute). <br>
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Sometimes, a divorced parent will say “no one from OP’s family). If your client is nominating someone outside the family (like an aunt, uncle, grandparent from OP’s family), absent good evidence of what is wrong with the close family relative, I think the close family relative will prevail. <br>
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In dependency actions, it’s required/ mandatory that the state try to identify biological family for a permanent placement. So, I believe the court would take guidance from dependency laws when making a decision on guardianship matters under title 26.<br>
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So, client can nominate whoever they want. The court will consider the bio parent’s wishes but the court is obligated to act in the child’s best interest. Bio family, bio relatives have a headstart. In some ways, its a good problem to have that alot of people might be stepping forward to fight to care for your children. <br>
<br>
andrekita<br>
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva<br>
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000<br>
Seattle, Washington 98101<br>
206-224-8288<br>
www.seattle-silvalaw.com<br>
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Quoting Suzanne Lieberman <<a href="mailto:suzanne@cmslawfirm.com">suzanne@cmslawfirm.com</a>>:</p>
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<div>Client is concerned that a close relative might try to step forward for guardianship over client's children if the entire list of proposed guardians in client's will is exhausted. Would a judge honor a request for exclusion, and if so, would the guardianship paragraph of the will be the only place this exclusion needs to be mentioned? </div>
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<div>Sincerely, </div>
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<div>Suzanne Lieberman</div>
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<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)"><a href="http://cmslawfirm.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">CMS Law Firm LLC</a></div>
<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)"><b>811 Kirkland Ave. Suite 201 </b>(please note new address!)</div>
<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)">Kirkland, WA 98033</div>
<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)">206-383-6484 (Cell Phone)</div>
<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)">206-659-1512 (Main Office)</div>
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<div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)">Legal stuff I have to put in... <i>To ensure compliance with Treasury Department and IRS regulations, we inform you that, unless expressly indicated otherwise, any federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written by CMS Law Firm LLC to be used, and cannot be used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of: (i) avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer under the Internal Revenue Code; or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein (or any attachments).</i></div>
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