Can You Sign Over Child Custody Without Going to Court?

Signing over custody means giving someone else care and control of your child.

Although you can agree to sign over custody without going to court, you need a court order to make it official. Signing over custody must be in the child's best interests.

Reasons for signing over custody

A judge won't allow a parent to transfer custody if the parent's reasoning is selfish, such as signing over custody to avoid paying child support.

Common reasons for giving up child custody include:

• Illness
• Incarceration
• Rehab
• Removal of the child from the parent's home by a government agency

If Child Protective Services (CPS) or another agency intends to remove a child from the home, the parent may sign over custody to keep the child out of foster care. The agency usually requires the new custodian to keep the child away from the parent.

How to sign over custody to the other parent

To sign over custody, legal parents can draft a parenting plan giving sole legal and physical custody to one parent.

In the U.S., you must have the plan approved by a court. In most other countries, court approval is optional. If you don't seek court approval, at least sign the agreement in front of a notary.

If parents were unmarried when their child was born and never legally recognized the father, he doesn't need to sign over custody. Only the mother has custody of the child.

How to sign over custody of a child to a grandparent or family member

There are a few ways to give a nonparent the power to care for your child.

• Let them adopt the child: Adoption grants the adoptive parents all parental rights in most circumstances. If it is an open adoption, the birth parents may have visitation rights.
• Name them the child's legal guardian: Guardianship allows parents to maintain their parental rights and name someone else to care for the child.
• Give them power of attorney over the child: In this case, parents maintain parental rights, but a relative or friend has the right to make decisions for the child without a court order.
• Sign a caregiver's authorization affidavit: The third-party caregiver can enroll the child in school, and, in some states, get the child medical and dental care without a court order.

You can agree to the terms of an adoption or guardianship outside of court, but you cannot finalize an adoption or long-term guardianship without going to court.

Nevada has a fully out-of-court option called a short-term guardianship agreement, which lasts up to six months. Both parents, the prospective guardian, and the child (who must be at least 14) sign the agreement. Once it expires, parents can sign another short-term agreement or ask the court for a long-term guardianship order.

Form to sign over custody of child

Each court has its own forms for requesting custody, guardianship and adoption orders.

Parents may generally use any format for their parenting plan, such as the Custody X Change parenting plan template. Your court may also provide a template.

How to get custody back

If CPS or another government agency removed the child, the parent may get custody back if they can prove they are fit to parent. For example, a parent struggling with addiction may regain custody after completing a rehabilitation program. The parent would file a petition with the court asking to restore their custodial rights.

It's common for guardianship to have an end date. If not, the parent can petition the court to end the guardianship.

It's very uncommon for someone to regain custody after an adoption.

Managing parenting after getting custody

Now that you have a child in your care, you'll have many responsibilities to juggle. A parenting app can help you stay on top of it all.

Custody X Change helps you:

• Create a visitation schedule.
• Store all of the child's information.
• Calendar all the child's activities.
• Track child-related expenses.
• Maintain a journal to write about the child's milestones, behavior, etc.

Custody X Change has everything newly-appointed parents and guardians need to successfully manage parenting.