Saturday, January 23, 2010

Mom Wins Child Back From Babysitter

On January 20, veteran family law attorneys Jeffery M. Leving and Arthur Kallow of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd. (http://dadsrights.com) won an important victory for a mother who had lost guardianship of her toddler son to the child's babysitter. Leving successfully obtained the dismissal of the entire guardianship proceeding brought by the babysitter against the mother. Cook County Probate Court Judge Gregory O'Brien issued an order granting Leving's motion brought on behalf of Monica Naide, the child's mother, alleging that the court lacked jurisdiction to award guardianship (custody) to the babysitter when the mother was fully capable of caring for her child.

Judge O'Brien's ruling brings a decisive end to an unusual case. In October, the babysitter, Karen Smith, filed a petition for guardianship and custody of Naide's son, Rodney Dennis, Jr., claiming that the mother had disappeared, the father was unknown, and that the babysitter was the child's maternal aunt. The mother disputed each of these claims. On November 24, 2009, attorney Jeffery M. Leving successfully petitioned the court to vacate the order of guardianship and custody to the babysitter, which paved the way for today's resolution of the case.

"This is an important order," said attorney Arthur Kallow. "It reaffirms the superior rights of parents to raise their own children in America."

Full Press Release and Source:
Mom Wins Child Back From Babysitter

5 comments:

StandUp said...

Glad to hear this. It's an important victory that reiterates the thing we all know, but courts don't always pay attention to, FAMILY.

Anonymous said...

I agree - it's an important order.

Mike said...

It appears to me the babysitter thought she was doing the right thing here.

Holly said...

As attorney Arthur Kallow said, "This is an important order, it reaffirms the superior rights of parents to raise their own children in America."
Why can't they see the difference between this, and our God given rights to "honor our mother and father" or "till death do us part" as with your spouse. The only difference is money. They won't let the seniors go home because they want their money. I can guarantee you that if toddler son had money, this story may not have had a happy ending.

Anonymous said...

Why was this case ever heard by a judge? How can you just show up in court claiming that someone else's child should be yours?