Trying to understand the custody intricacies. The Grandparents said they "mostly raised" Noah and his sister. I assume this wasn't a legal custody arrangement. So what were the legal custody specifics of the parents?
I'm confused by what little we know about Mom. Are there mental health issues at play here?
What I've been able to determine with the help of someone on here who found the case, there was a child support case here in Orange County. Sounds like a welfare reimbursement case. So if a child receives SSI or one parent receives welfare, the state will file an action to get support reimbursed to the state from the other parent.
In order to do so they need to determine parentage of the child and get a judgment declaring that the other parent is the legal parent of the child.
It appears that happened.
Mom certainly is on the birth certificate. So in the case of an unwed parent in CA, they have automatic constitutional rights to custody and control of their child if they're the mom and in the birth certificate.
If dad was on the birth certificate and signed what's called a voluntary declaration of paternity, same would apply to him. The parents would have equal rights under the law.
He would also get those equal rights via a child support judgment declaring him the father.
We can't tell if there was any child custody litigation between the parents because in CA "paternity" cases are confidential.
It appears the grandparents raised these children mostly though there's no evidence they obtained a legal guardianship. So that could've been because the parents lacked the capacity to care for the kids (drugs, alcohol, incarceration or poverty are typically factors), and allowed be kids to stay with the grandparents.
Maybe mom lived with them too during much or some of this time. I don't know. There's a sweet poster on here who knows the family and possibly could say.
But without legal guardianship, the parents were able to take the kids anytime they wanted. The grandparents could've filed for an emergency order returning the kids via a temporary guardianship and/or they could've filed a petition for grandparent visitation after they were taken, the latter of which they most certainly would've won.
But otherwise they'd be helpless to prevent the kids from being taken from their home, under the law.
And there could've been circumstances that prevented them from filing for a guardianship that we are not aware of.
But it seems that simply, the parents had the legal right to custody and control. I'm guessing they did not have custody orders between them though which could be one reason why the mother was camped outside instead of calling the cops to retrieve her kids right away.
Who knows.
It's a dire case. One more we didn't need here in CA after two similar ones that were so awful.
That poor child's sweet face. Always the most innocent and loving who end up tormented to death, it seems.
