Legal Options for Relative Caregivers

standby guardianship (in some states)

These laws were originally designed in response to the AIDS crisis and allow a terminally ill parent to designate a standby guardian to take over the day to day care of a child in the event of a triggering event, such as incapacity, without the parents' rights being terminated.
There is a Sense of Congress in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) that States should pass these laws:

Arkansas: AK Code, 28-65-221
California: CA Probate Code, section 2105
Connecticut: CT Statutes, section 45a-624
Florida: FL Statutes, 744.304
Illinois: IL Statutes, Chapter 755, section 5/11a-3.1
Iowa: IA Statutes, 633.560
Maryland: MD Code, 13-903 and 13-904
Massachusetts: MA General Laws, Ch. 201, section 2B
Minnesota: In April 2000, a new "standby and alternate custodies" law went into effect in Minnesota, which can be found as Senate File 3018 to be codified in MN Statutes, chapter 257B.
Nebraska: NE Revised Statutes, section 30.2608
New Jersey: NJ Statutes, 3B:12-67 to 3B:12-76
New York: NY Consolidated Laws, SCPA, section 1726
North Carolina: NC Statutes, 35A-1370 to 35A-1382
Pennsylvania: PA Statutes, 5602 to 5612
Virginia: VA Code 16.1-349 to 16.1-355
West Virginia: WV Code 44A-5-1 to 44A-5-8
Wisconsin: WI Statutes 48-978
Wyoming: WY Statutes 3-2-108

Source: Generations United, one of the premier Web resources for grandparents and other relative caregivers. Copyright 2002, Generations United. Reprinted with permission of Generations United http://www.gu.org

  • Adoption (in all states)
  • Guardianship (in all states)
  • Legal Custody (in all states)
  • Open Adoption with Agreements (in some states)
  • De Facto Custodian (in some states)
  • Permanent Guardianship (in some states)
  • Subsidized Guardianship (in some states)
  • Medical & Educational Consent (in some states)
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