Previous posts here have discussed how a relative can obtain guardianship over minor children when there is abuse in their home or the children’s parents are otherwise unwilling or unable to care for their children. Massachusetts law has a procedure parents can use when they feel that they are again in a positon to take care of their children. While the procedure calls for a judge to end a guardianship when doing so is in the best interest of the children, it is also important to remember that Massachusetts law expresses a strong preference for a child’s legal parents to raise their children.
What this means in practice is that a parent, if he or she feels ready to take on full-time care of the children again, can with relatively little difficulty get back into court in an effort to end the guardianship. While this might be acceptable if a guardian agrees, in many cases, a guardian may see red flags that, despite a parent’s belief to the contrary, the parent is simply not ready to bear the responsibilities of parenthood.
In these sorts of cases, a Springfield-area guardian is likely going to want legal representation in maintaining legal custody over the child in question. One reason is that simply proving a guardian is doing a good job for the child might not be enough to protect a guardianship.
The guardian will need to show that the parent remains unable to care for the child, and this could be difficult since it requires specific evidence. Gathering the right kind of evidence and organizing it into a coherent and organized argument to present to the judge is a crucial part of these efforts.