Results tagged “Grand paternity” from DNA Lady

Kinship Legal Guardianship (KLG) in New Jersey, is a process whereby a maternal or paternal relative of a child assumes long term care of the child as an alternative to adoption.  KLG does not necessarily terminate parental rights.  The biological parent maintains the right of consent to adoption or name change, pays child support and is entitled to visitation, usually supervised.  The child does not sacrifice any rights derived from the birth parent such as inheritance or insurance eligibility. 

KLG, is initially a permanent arrangement and not intended to be easily resolved.  However, KLG can be used as a temporary measure to allow biological parents to overcome incapacity to care for a child.  Most children want to be reunited with their parents.  However, as with all matters concerning children, and irrespective of the circumstances, the courts will rule in favor of what is best for the child based on "clear and convincing evidence".  If a parent, whose child was removed due to physical abuse, neglect, substance abuse, arrest, violence or any other misconduct, intends to pursue custody of their child, there has been a unanimous decision, affirmed by all seven justices and written by Justice John Wallace, that the burden of proof for terminating such KLG arrangements is with the moving party. (biological parent)

Who wins in these situations?  Children are negatively impacted with any interruption in home life.  Moving from a parent's home to a relative's home, no matter the circumstances, interferes with academic progress, social life and certainly emotional well being.  Readjusting to a new environment is difficult for anyone, imagine being a child and having to accomodate the adult world around you.  Having relatives argue over who is to care for a child, who is financially responsible for a child, who is equipped to best take care of the child, will leave the child with lifelong self esteem issues - the child's mind barely understands the conflict and only wants to be with their parent.  On the other hand, these angels (KLG) who step up to the responsibility of raising someone else's children are a large part of our population today and everyone involved in chiild welfare needs to support their efforts and sacrifices.  This is the next generation they are taking care of - the next biochemist, the next NASA engineer or the next President. 

One sad note, is the grand parent or aunt or uncle, who spends their time and energy to raise a "relative's" child, only to later find out that there is no real biological relationship.  If you have a doubt about the paternity of the child you are being asked to care for, call your local DNA collector to have a private DNA test performed.  If you have been given paperwork by the court, indicating you have custody of the child, you have the right and responsibility to get a DNA test to confirm you are indeed the biological grand parent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother etc., of the child.  And all children have the right to know their birth family and understand the truth about their birth. 

Paternity Testing is  not  just for parents anymore!

The unmarried birth rate is at an all-time high in the United States, topping out at in confirmed statistics at 36.8% in 2006 and possibly as high as 40% in 2008. Social and governmental agencies alike are coping with establishing paternity for children. However, there is a growing group that is affected by the issue of paternity that is being overlooked - grandparents.

According to AARP, nearly 6 million children are raised in households headed by grandparents or other relatives; 2.5 million of these children are without parents in the household at all, leaving their care and upbringing to their grandparents or other relatives. In light of the high out-of-wedlock birth rate, some grandparents must take an extra step and establish their biological relationship through DNA testing in order to gain legal guardianship or visitation rights to their grandchild.

There are also other, little-known situations that the grandparent generation is faced with in relation to their family status. They may have to establish paternity for reasons such as:

• Helping their son or daughter, who may have a child born outside of a marriage to determine paternity for the completion of the Acknowledgement of Paternity as quickly as possible. Many grandparents do not want to wait for state testing because it can take weeks and months to prove or disprove paternity. They want to know whether or not to bond with the grandchild to avoid future family dysfunction.
• Establishing paternity if the father is deceased, yet his name is not on the birth certificate. Helping the mother establish paternity will allow her to seek social security or military child-survivor benefits on behalf of the child, while affording grandparents the proof they need to establish legal visitation rights.
• Establishing paternity in situations where the grandchild may be placed in fostercare and preference is given to kinship support. Grandparents may need to prove their biological relationship to the child to take on the role as the legal guardian or foster parent.