Guardianship Alternative: Parental Authority To Family
Guardianship is not required to take care of your grandchildren
Guardianship in Wisconsin is a complex court procedure. It requires money and a hearing with a judge. Wisconsin allows a parent with legal custody to give their parental powers to another person without going to court or social services. For 12 months parents can give caretaking duties to another person without going to court.
Parental Rights to Family
Active military duty, being in jail, or a medical issue is the reasons parents give their caretaking to another. It is common for parents to use a family member to take care of their children. Usually, there are no papers showing this agreement is okay. Big problems happen if a child is sick or school needs permission for an activity. Caretakers must show they have the right to make health care or educational decisions.
Guardianship is Hard to End
There is no end date for guardianship this makes parents scared to agree. A parent must go to court and ask the court to end the guardianship. Giving parental power to a family member is not scary because it lasts no longer than one year. At one year the caretaker’s rights end unless parents sign a new document for caretaking to continue.
Parents Need to Agree
Divorced parents with legal custody rights do not need to worry that the other parent will allocate parental authority to a step-parent or another person. The law requires that a power of attorney delegating parental powers to a third party must be signed by both parents if both parents have legal custody rights.
Also, consider estate planning; it is an important tool for third parties to care for your children if you can not.
Lisa Derr
Lisa Derr is an experienced Divorce and Family Mediator with three offices in east central Wisconsin. She started the family mediation practice in 1995. Lisa earned her BA in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 in four years despite a serious car accident that involved a 2-month hospital stay. She began practicing law in 1987. For the first 8 years of her career, Lisa litigated personal injury and divorce cases. But she was frustrated with the tremendous financial and emotional cost of divorce trials. Contested hearings inhibited reconciliation and healing for thewhole family. She started the Beaver Dam divorce mediation practice in 1995 and with her partner, Cassel Villarreal, expanded to Oshkosh and West Bend ten years later.