I’m in a tough spot right now and could really use some advice. My ex-husband and I had a shared custody plan where I had 49% and he had 51%. I live out of state in Washington, and unfortunately, he passed away after a battle with cancer. Before he died, we talked about his daughter (my daughter) coming to live with me after he was gone.
Now that he’s passed, her great-grandmother has started putting ideas in her head about staying with her instead. My daughter even mentioned wanting to stay longer before moving in with me, but I told her no because I want to help her get back to a “normal” life as soon as we can.
Things escalated, and the great-grandmother actually locked my daughter in her room. My daughter is now scared to leave. I had to involve the police, but they said Arizona laws don’t allow them to force a child to go with a parent even if there’s custody in place.
I’m supposed to go to family court soon, but I have no idea what to file or how to navigate this process. Any assistance or advice would be super helpful.
Aren’t there any other siblings of the dad who could step in? The great-grandma might just be really scared of being alone, which is tough to deal with. If they could sit down and have a chat, maybe they could work things out without the drama of law enforcement getting involved.
At ten, I loved my grandma so much that I would have been super protective of her and probably wouldn’t have wanted to leave. Both of them might feel like they won’t see each other again, which is really sad.
Maybe @Everett could see if the great-grandma would be open to moving to an assisted living place in her state? If she’s already in one, it might be an easy transfer. It’s a big ask, but it could show her daughter how much she cares about her and is willing to help the great-grandma move closer to her family.