How do you you change your legal guardian?

Question

i live with my mom only.

want to change to be under the custody of my sister.

i am 16 years old.

my sister is 20 years old.

Answer 1

Well, I have to disagree with some of these answers.  

Unless your mother is willing to give your sister a power of attorney to act in her stead as your guardian then you must go to court.  (By the way, have you discussed this with your mother?  How does she feel about it?)

I petitioned the court for a change of guardianship when I was your age.  First let me say that they are right in that it wasn't easy.  (My mother's behavior in court actually helped me a lot.)  

Ask yourself these questions:

What are your reasonings?

Is your mother a fit parent?  (Is she mentally/physically ill?  Is she an alcoholic/drug addict?  Is she abusive--verbally, mentally, emotionally?)

Can your mother adequately financially support you?

Can your sister support you financially?

Have you been in trouble at school or with the law?  (Suspensions, failing grades, arrests or been detained by officers until the arrival of your mother)

What is it that your sister can provide for you that your mother can not?

Answer these questions honestly.  Then reflect on them--take a good hard look at them.  Is there a really REALLY good reason for you to take extreme measures against your mother?  Or are you a teenage girl going through the typical c**p that most mothers and daughters go through?  (Curfews, grades, good/bad friends, chores, borrowing the car, etc)

Remember, this will probably effect your relationship with your mother for the rest of your life.--not in a good way either.

For the record, I became an emancipated minor after I was a ward of the state for 9 months (kind of an "observation" period) before a family court judge ruled in my favor.  --It took over ten years for my mother and me to repair our relationship and we still have to work hard at it sometimes.

Answer 2

Call your local court house and ask them. They may be hard to find in the phone book, so just 411 it. The people at the court house can then direct you to who you need to speak with.

Answer 3

your mom will have to agree and sign you over to your sister.

Answer 4

Sorry hun, but it doesn't work that way.  You are still a child, which means that you can't make such decisions on your own.  Your mother would have to sign over her rights to your sister, or her rights would have to be taken away (and only for a darn good reason).  Even if her rights were taken away, you wouldn't automatically go to your sister.  If the judge didn't think it would get a good idea, you'd be sent to foster care.  

The magic age is 18.  That's when you'll get to decide where and with whom you want to live.  You'll just have to stick it out for the next two years.

Answer 5

You don't get to. Not up to you.

There would  have to be sufficient cause. Your sister would have to prove she is capable of supporting a 16 yr old girl, which is difficult to prove.

Unless your life is in danger, a judge won't entertain it.