How Would I Go About Getting Custody of My 11 Year Old Cousin?

Question by Arielle: How would I go about getting custody of my 11 year old cousin?
My cousin is 11 years old, and about 5 years ago her mom (My aunt) died. She lives at her grandparents 2 bedroom home with her dad, her grandma, her grandpa, her brother, her brothers girlfriend, their three kids, and her cousin. Her dad is addicted to narcotics, and I believe meth. Her grandma is selling percocets. Her grandpa is a alcoholic. Her brother is addicted to meth and narcotics along with his girlfriend. And her cousin is addicted to heroin. Her dad gets 600 dollars a month for spousal support and she gets 600 dollars for herself. All of which goes towards her dads drug addiction. I am her deceased mothers biological niece and when school ends in June, I am going to try and get custody of her. I have two children of my own, stable income, by that time I’m hoping we will be granted a loan to buy a house, but have room for her right where we are if need be. I know for a fact, that if it came down to court I would not have a problem getting custody of her given the living conditions she has now. The house itself is a mess and at one point when my step dad went over there, (his parents house, he is my cousins dads brother) he found powdered cleaner used to make meth, so we assume they were making it in the basement. She has also been writing to boys and cursing and talking about sexual things her friend said or something and she is just headed down the wrong path and I feel that I have to save her. Her mother took very very good care of her, and now her life has gone to sh*t. She gets no type of counseling to deal with her mothers death, nothing. Anyways, my goal is to try and talk some sense into her father and try and get him to see that she would be much better off living with me. If he was any type of father, I feel that he would jump at the chance of giving his daughter a life that he cannot provide for her. But when he realizes that he will not get that 600 dollars a month for his drug addiction, I think that’s where the problems will start. So, if he does fight me how do I go about getting custody of her? Do I contact children services? I read that unless the parents agree to the custody agreement, that you have to prove abuse or neglect, which is obviously there. So is that the route I want to take? Or should I contact a Lawyer? I live in Ohio by the way. Thank you to anyone who responds.

Best answer:

Answer by Mark B
yes you need to get a lawyer on this as ether way your going to need legal papers if it is agreed on and if it is not then your going to need one for court.
by the sounds of it your also going to be getting a troubled child and that is not a easy thing to deal with so have a good councilor ready to start with as she is going to have many issues by the sounds of it

Good luck

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