Legal guardianship can be a great path for a parent when they cannot provide the opportunities and support they want their son or daughter to have. By placing their child with a guardian, they not only give their child a loving and welcoming home but they also give themselves a chance to better their situation, becoming a better parent at the same time.
Whether you’re the legal guardian of a child or a parent considering placing your child with a legal guardian, you probably have a few questions. One of them might be: Can a legal guardian put a child up for adoption?
It’s a reasonable question to ask. Because a legal guardian receives custody of the child at the center of the process, they also receive the right to decide what’s in the child best interest — whether it is medical decisions, educational decisions or other choices.
But, is the ability to place a child for adoption included in those rights?
If you’re asking this question, the best course of action is always to contact a local adoption attorney. Adoption and guardianship laws vary by state, so only a local professional can provide a personalized answer for your situation. In the meantime, learn about some of the basics of this legal process below.
Can a Temporary Custody Holder Put a Child Up for Adoption?
As mentioned above, a legal guardian has the right to make decisions in the best interest of the child in their custody. If a guardian cannot provide the kind of care they originally pledged to give, and the child cannot safely be returned to their biological parent, it may beg the question: Can a legal guardian put a child up for adoption?
In most cases, the answer is no.
There is an important legal aspect of temporary guardianship that plays a huge role in this answer. It’s also an important thing for every birth parent and potential legal guardian to know before choosing this path.
In a legal guardianship, the rights of the biological parents are not terminated. While a child’s birth parents do choose to place him or her with other parents (“guardians”), it does not mean that the birth parents are giving up their responsibility to parent their child. In most cases, parents who set up a temporary guardianship are still financially responsible for their child and will retain their parental rights until specific legal steps are taken.
In a temporary guardianship, the rights of the guardian and the rights of the biological parents co-exist at the same time. Therefore, a guardian cannot choose to place a child for adoption without the consent of the child’s legal parents.
Therefore, while a guardian is responsible for a child’s needs, they do not have the ultimate ability to place that child for adoption. Only the child’s biological parents can do that.
How to Change Guardianship of a Child
Sometimes, people who ask, “Can a temporary custody holder put a child up for adoption?” do so because they can no longer provide the care and support they could at the beginning of the guardianship. To them, adoption seems like the best way to provide a child with the responsible family he or she needs.
However, there is another way: a change of guardianship.
Personal situations change, and it’s common for any parent to feel overwhelmed at a point in their parenting journey. Before a guardian starts making plans to change guardianship of their ward, it’s important that they contact the child’s biological parent. Taking this legal step without the biological parents’ consent and involvement will make it much harder, even impossible.
The first thing you’ll want to do is contact a local adoption attorney — maybe even the one who arranged the initial guardianship. They will explain your local laws and how to change legal guardianship in your situation. Then, they will guide you through the process ahead.
First, your attorney will help you fill out any necessary guardianship forms. These forms will be filed with the appropriate local court. All affected parties will be notified with copies of your court papers, so they are aware of the plans to change guardianship of the child.
Guardians will likely need to appear before court as part of this process. During this appearance, they can ask to be relieved of their guardianship duties, and the court (or the biological parents) will appoint a new guardian. Usually, in this situation, all parties will be in agreement, and the process will go rather smoothly. However, it’s still necessary that you work with an adoption or family attorney to follow all required steps and protect the safety of the child at the center of the process.
If you are interested in a change of guardianship, you can start your search for a local attorney with this database.
Above all else, remember that a legal guardian cannot put a child up for adoption — only biological parents can.
I have five grandchildren I have been taking care of them since our daughter took them away in Feb 2016 because of her baby daddy. I got the kids back in June 2017 and then she took them back and they went a different school. Oct they really started to live with me and my husband. I started to get help for the kids. They went to Dr. Know we have gone to court for childsupport. I am not getting much. The kids are ADHD there are three kids. I am not getting any were with her. I did help.
If you reach adulthood and was adopted by a grandparent can you go back to your mothers name that you had at birth? Son was taken from me as a baby. We reunited when he was age 17. His name was changed and he was adopted by his grandmother without my knowledge. He is 26 now and really do not want to carry his grandmother name nor have her as his mother on his birth certificate that she changed. Is it a legal way to change back the way it was from birth?????
Hi, Mildred — Any adult can change their name after age 18, so it should be a rather simple process to change his name. He can also go through an adult adoption to change his legal parents: https://consideringadoption.com/adopting/types-of-adoption/why-and-how-to-adopt-an-adult We’d encourage you to reach out to a local family attorney for more information on these legal processes.
I have had guardianship of my grandson since he was two, he is now 7. I want to know exactly what the difference between guardianship and custody is? If there is any difference. I’ve tried to explain to my son, the child’s father, that it’s about the same thing. I can make decisions for him, have him treated medically when he needs it, and I have him physically all the time. So they’re about the same aren’t they? Can you just explain what the main difference is? Besides the biological parents have not lost their rights to him.
Hi, Myra — We are not legal experts, so we cannot provide the legal definition you’re looking for. Have you spoken with a local family law attorney about this matter? This article may help you understand the two options a bit better: https://www.mckinleyirvin.com/family-law-blog/2014/july/what-is-the-difference-between-custody-and-guard/
My grandmother has temporary guardianship of my daughter. We are trying to get her back. It wasn’t supposed to be this long of a time. She was just supposed to watch her until i got out of treatment. But when i did she decided she would not give her back. She has serious control issues, always has. Anyway, so the judge,(and my grandmother), have made us jump through hoops. And the judge already had preconceived notions about us because my grandmother had went up to her court room when it was in session, waited until the end to “ask a question” and then sneak in and manipulate her with how horrible my husband and i were… Total lies, she is a narcissist so she just manipulates to control situations or people… In this instance she controlled the judge so we had no chance.. She wouldn’t even allow us to speak. So we have been clean for 16 months and haven’t had our daughter in almost that long. We would have had another court date to get her back in April, but because covid closed down the courts we had to wait until now.. Because covid also closed our parenting classes and many other things. We have done everything the court has asked us to do and filed for termination of guardianship. It turns out though my daughter has been staying with a couple who is not my grandmother this whole time.. That my grandmother has told them we would give her up for adoption to them. That we don’t care about her. They have filed for a motion to switch guardianship.
I had a friend who called her friend from DHS and local lawyers and they said we can go over there with her birth certificate and the local police get our baby back, go to a hotel for one night, and the next day file a VPO and emergency custody forms on the bases of child trafficking. My grandmother is promising them this child, and doing it for recognition at her church. Can we really do this?
Hi, Chelsea — This sounds like a complicated situation. We are not legal experts, so we cannot provide guidance or advice for your situation. Your best bet is to find a local adoption attorney who can explain your options. Here’s a list to get started: https://adoptionart.org/find-an-attorney/
I had a baby with my girl friend and her parents told her not to notify me when she had the baby and then they text me pictures of the baby and told me my baby died and I had to find out that my baby was not did my baby is very much alive what they did is gave power of attorney to her aunt which is trying to adopt my baby but I haven’t got to do a DNA yet because they won’t arrange it what do I do just to have this power parents right to my son and get my son back my girlfriend don’t want to give him up for adoption neither but her parents are trying to overrule her and everything so what do I do someone please help a man lost without his child
Good evening, I have a runaway child who is not my adopted daughter. She had a guardian because her other adoptive mother passed away. The new guardian was going to give the child to the state however I took her so that wouldn’t happen. The child live with me over a year now its 1year and 9 months and I filed taxes this year for last year now the guardian says she is going to file a lawsuit against me for taxes. The minor also gets SSI however the guardian didn’t send me money each month and now or last year. She claims that she gave me money for the child it came the Childs own money not her pocket please advise
apologies she is NOW my adopted daughter
my mother and father were granted gaurdianship of my kids. my kids are 3 boys 8, 2, 1. I left my kids with my parents in september 14, 2020 . soon after that i was served papers saying that the filed for guardianship which was granted after 15 days because i never gave anybody a response. from what i was told the judge took it as i wasnt trying to fight for my kids. which was untrue. at that time the kids father has a personality disorder and lost his mind. this was the first time it had happen so it was unexpected and i didnt know what was going on with him or how to handle it. he also went to jail with a aggravated assault charge with a deadly weapon. which definetly did not help with getting the kids back. which i was told that the father could not be around the kids what so ever. so in that point in time i thought me and the father would be able to fight for the kids back and which it went the total opposite and has pushed me futher away to getting my kids back. well i have left the father and have been working on getting myself stable (having a place to live, a job),ect. this whole time i have under the impression that my mother and father had my kids, then come to find out they only have my 8 year old. my two & 1 year old have been placed somewhere else and my mother will not tell me exactly where they are or anything for that matter. so what im asking is how can i find my kids and how can i get them back? i cannot get anybody in my family to talk to me let alone tell me anything that has happen with my kids since sep.14 2020 .. i was served papers in the beginning of November 2020 and have not heard anything since nor have i appeared in court for anything. can you please help me understand what is going on and point me in the direction of me regaining custody of my kids.thank you for your time.