Opinion ID: 2192460
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: can a sister provide proper custody? (question 1)

Text: Actually, the point we will consider is more fundamental than can a sister provide proper custody. The point we will consider is whether a mother can without court intervention give custody of her child to her sister, and whether that custody, if otherwise proper, creates proper custody. We hold that the answer to this double-barreled question is yes. Yes, if a mother gives custody to a sister, that can be proper custody. Yes, a mother can give custody of her child to her sister without court intervention. While there is no direct Supreme Court precedent for this question, there is helpful analysis by Justice LEVIN. There are also two opinions of the Court of Appeals directly on point. Justice LEVIN'S observation provides the seminal rationale. In his opinion in In re Maria S Weldon, 397 Mich 225, 296; 244 NW2d 827 (1976), he said: Most parents raise their children themselves. Some parents, however, because of illness, incarceration, employment or other reason, entrust the care of their children for extended periods of time to others. This they may do without interference by the state as long as the child is adequately cared for. `Clearly it is not the law that before a child can be placed by a parent in temporary custody of a relative permission must be first obtained from the court.' Diernfeld v People, 137 Colo 238, 242-243; 323 P2d 628, 631 (1958) (emphasis by the Court). More recently two Court of Appeals cases have specifically considered the otherwise without proper custody provision of MCL 712A.2; MSA 27.3178(598.2) where the parents had entrusted a child to relatives without court intervention. These cases relied in large part upon Justice LEVIN'S observations and concluded that where a child has been given into otherwise proper custody of a relative the child is not otherwise without proper custody and the probate court cannot establish jurisdiction. In the Matter of Carlene Ward, 104 Mich App 354, 357-360; 304 NW2d 844 (1981) (a sister); In the Matter of Curry, 113 Mich App 821, 822-826; 318 NW2d 567 (1982) (maternal and paternal grandmothers). We agree with the reasoning and conclusions in both cases. The latter one, as the instant case, involved incarcerated parents.