Sunday, July 12, 2009

Molly Update/ Family Court 101

This post was originally published in MEM's MEMOS on April 21, 2009.

Here's what happened at today's hearing:

Because there are three different parties involved in this case,

1) Molly & her siblings
2) Molly's birthmother, and
3) The State of Utah/DCFS

there are three different lawyers:

1) Molly and her siblings are assigned a Guardian Ad Liteum (GAL) who represents their best interest,
2) Molly's birthmother is appointed a court-ordered public defender (unless she has the means to hire her own private attorney),
3) and the State of Utah has its own assistant attorney general who represents DCFS.

All three attorneys argued for the same thing: that Molly & her siblings be placed back with their mother ON THE CONDITION that Molly's birthfather have no contact with them. Without going into details, the reason the children came into custody this time was because of Molly's dad. Since Molly's mom did nothing to stop it she was charged with "failure to protect" her children.

Apparently Molly's dad is going to be leaving the state permanently. As long as he doesn't make contact with Molly's mother or her children, they will be able to remain with her.

The judge agreed with all three attorneys, so after spending a week in The Christmas Box House, the children will be reunited with their mother.

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