Guardianship is when a court orders someone other than the child’s parent to:
-Have custody of the child; or
-Manage the child's property (called "estate"); or
-Both.
The information in this section is about probate guardianships. These cases are brought by the person seeking to be appointed guardian or by someone else in the family asking the court to appoint a guardian. If custody of the minor was awarded to a non-parent through the juvenile dependency court, this section does NOT apply.
If Child Protective Services (CPS) is involved in your case, you probably have to go to the juvenile court to find out what you can do.
A probate guardianship of the person is set up because a child is living with an adult who is not the child’s parent, and the adult needs a court order to make decisions on behalf of the child.
A guardianship is not the same as an adoption. Here are some differences:
In a Guardianship:
-Parents still have parental rights. They can ask for reasonable contact with the child.
-The court can end a guardianship if the parents become able to take care of the child.
-Guardians can be supervised by the court.
In an Adoption:
-The parents' rights are permanently ended.
-The legal relationship with the adoptive parents is permanent and is exactly the same as a birth family.
-An adopted child inherits from his or her adoptive parents, just as a birth child would.
-Adoptive families are not supervised by the court.
When you hire Yanez & Associates you can be sure you are hiring top quality legal representation. Attorney Bettina L. Yanez is a Certified Family Specialist. This means that the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization has Certified this attorney as having met a high level of experience in family law.
