The child privilege attorney decides whether it is in the child’s best interest to release protected information in the court case. A child’s parents cannot force the child to give up (or “waive”) this privilege. The privilege often relates to information from a child’s psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, or social worker.
Full Answer
Generally, the court is willing to hear what children want when deciding custody or visitation rights if the child is at least 10-12 years old. However, the children's opinions are not determining factors when establishing visitation or custody.
The Maryland Best Interest Attorney conducts an investigation and gathers relevant information regarding a high-conflict child custody matter. The Best Interest Attorney then provides information regarding what he or she feels in his or her professional opinion is in the child's best interest.
Any individual can file a petition in the court for guardianship or adoption before the child attains 18 years of age. A parent's rights can also be terminated by the local Department of Social Services by filing a court petition.
Your family law judge presiding over your divorce or custody matter may determine that your case requires the appointment of a Best Interest Attorney. In these cases, the BIA is not working for the benefit of a parent, but is appointed to represent the best interests of the child.
When a petition is filed to establish a guardianship, the court appoints a guardian ad Litem (GAL). The GAL represents the client's best interests (not the client him or herself) in the guardianship proceeding. The GAL also acts as a neutral investigator for the court.
within 2 months(2) no one has claimed to be the child's natural parent within 2 months of the alleged abandonment of the child.
The child gets to express a preference if the court finds this is in the child's best interest. The court considers the preference if the child is old enough to form an intelligent opinion. There's a presumption a child 12 or above is old enough. The court considers the reasonable preference of a child 12 or older.
(b) A parent shall be deemed to have abandoned a minor child under subsection (a)(1) of this section if the conduct of the parent demonstrates a settled purpose willfully and intentionally to relinquish all parental rights and duties with respect to the child and to renounce and forsake the child entirely.
We hold today that the IJs and BIA possess the inherent authority to terminate removal proceedings, abrogating Matter of S-O-G- & F-D-B-.
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) The BIA is located within the EOIR. BIA decisions may be appealed to the Federal courts. **BIA decisions since 2000 are available on the EOIR website (see below).
The asylum regulations provide that “[u]nless otherwise prohibited in § 1208.13(c), an immigration judge may grant or deny asylum in the exercise of discretion to an applicant who qualifies as a refugee under section 101(a)(42) of the Act.” 8 C.F.R. § 1208.14(a) (2021) (emphasis added).
On average, cases completed during the first nine months of FY 2021 took 891 days (or 2.4 years) from the date of their Notice to Appear (NTA) to a decision, twice as long compared with 451 days (a little more than 1.2 years) on average during FY 2020.