What rights do I have to my step daughter if the father went to jail? 22 Answers as of January 03, 2012

Mother has rights. Children can be with a parent. Tell your boyfriend or husband to file an action with the court. How long will he be in jail. If a short time, he can try to get her back with a custody case.

Step parents have limited (if any) rights to child custody. Your best bet would probably be to file a Guardianship action.

It is a tight rope you are going to have to walk. How long is the Dad going to be in jail and for what? How old is the girl? Bottom line, mom has priority over you, but that does not mean she will be able to keep it if you fight for your rights.

The mother would be the presumptive custodial parent. Unless she is palpable unfit and proven so in a third party custody action, she would have the greater right to custody of her child. Since you acted in a parental role, you would be in a strong position to seek visitation.

None if you did not adopt.

Unless you formally adopted your stepdaughter, you have no custody rights. You can either file for adoption or guardianship in court.

Step-parents have no rights to a child. All rights exist in the parents only. The only way to get custody of the child is for a guardianship to be established with you as guardian. The mother would have priority. You would have to establish that the mother was unfit and no other blood relative was unfit or unwilling to be the guardian.

The biological mother would have higher rights than you but, depending on the age of the child, the court might well consider a guardianship in your favor. It would be easier for you if you and the biological father are married. Your case is not easy and the best interests of the child is what the court will use as a standard in making its decision.

It is important to know how long you have been married to her father since he has had sole custody and whether or not the mother has been in the girl's life since that time, i.e. visitation. You should file a Petition for Temporary Guardianship and request that the Court allow you to have guardianship of the child while her father is in jail. Although the biological mother certainly has rights to her child, you could make a strong argument that you should have temporary guardianship of her if her mother had nothing to do with her and had no contact with her since the child was 3 years old. You in essence have been the de facto parent of the girl since you have been married to her father and have had the responsibility of raising her and caring for her. Depending on the age of the child, the Court may listen to her and give weight to the girl's preference of whom she wants to live with. You also have a compelling argument that it would not be in the best interest of the girl to go with her mother since the mother has not been a part of her life and she would be uprooted from her school and all that has been important to her since she was 3. Needless to say, you should consult the advice of counsel and if you can afford to do so, hire counsel to represent you in the process.

You may be in the unique position to petition the family law court to have the child remain in your care if you have been a day to day caretaker of the child prior to fathers incarceration. Please meet with a skilled family law attorney to explore your legal options. That attorney should be familiar with an important December 2011 child custody case that may cover this issue.