# Can young children stay with an adult child in the case of a parent's death?



## Monster (Jul 2, 2018)

The story I'm working on takes place in the US, so I'm looking at how the US social system works.
One of my characters is a single mother of three minor children and one 19-year-old child. The family lives together until the mother dies.
What would have to happen legally, if anything, for the adult child to resume care of the three younger children?
Would there be any investigation at all? Would social services step in? 

The three minor children don't have a relationship with their father. Would it be more likely that the children would all be separated and placed into foster care, or would the system try to keep the family together instead? 

I've seen situations similar to this where an older sibling will take over care of younger ones in the case of a parent's death, but I don't know the logistics of it, and in the case I saw, the older sibling was in her late 20s, early 30s with only 2 minor siblings she took in. 

Also, how does Social Security benefits work for orphaned children? 

I apologize if any additional info is needed. I can answer any questions you have about the situation. I just want my story to be somewhat accurate.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jul 2, 2018)

Yes, an adult sibling can become guardian, assuming they are in a position to care for the child. But a 19yr old with no job, living at home, with no substantial income or resources...prolly not. To some degree it varies from state to state (Child welfare services is typically a state organization, occasionally a county function.)
They would evaluate the potential guardian and determine if he/she met the criteria.  In some cases the child could be temporarily placed in foster while they determine the viability of the candidate.  Ideally they try to err on the side of the child.

But in the real world that is not always the case. There have been some pretty interesting scandals with CPS in many states. I think it was AZ that just fired their CPS chief after it came to light that CPS had not responded to *thousands *of reports of abuse.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jul 2, 2018)

You can prolly get deeper info on the criteria & process by googling CPS for the state where this happens. Mebbe find some cool insider stuff that makes you sound authoritative.


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## Monster (Jul 3, 2018)

Ralph Rotten said:


> But a 19yr old with no job, living at home, with no substantial income or resources...prolly not.



Let's say this 19-year-old character worked full-time at a certain wholesale grocery chain for $14 an hour. Might it help if the income is pretty reasonable?


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## Jack of all trades (Jul 3, 2018)

Monster said:


> The story I'm working on takes place in the US, so I'm looking at how the US social system works.
> One of my characters is a single mother of three minor children and one 19-year-old child. The family lives together until the mother dies.
> What would have to happen legally, if anything, for the adult child to resume care of the three younger children?
> Would there be any investigation at all? Would social services step in?
> ...



At nineteen, the eldest is an adult and could get custody. The actual events depends on the state and the specific individuals involved.

I suggest you Google YouTube videos for CPS in the state where your story takes place. That will probably give you worst case scenarios, and possibly good ones.

Then you will have to decide how much of the story is fighting the system and how much is something else. I don't think there's any set parameters.  Social workers can be good and competent, or corrupt, or lazy, or whatever, just like anyone else.


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## bulmabriefs144 (Jul 6, 2018)

Monster said:


> The story I'm working on takes place in the US, so I'm looking at how the US social system works.
> One of my characters is a single mother of three minor children and one 19-year-old child. The family lives together until the mother dies.
> What would have to happen legally, if anything, for the adult child to resume care of the three younger children?
> Would there be any investigation at all? Would social services step in?
> ...



In the eyes of the law, a 19 year old is not a child. However, there are laws about fitness of raising a child without means of support.

The way you could handle this is write them as (a) the child is posing as their parent, using false info or (b) they are living somewhere outside a major urban area such as in a park, under a bridge, or out in the country or (c) this is a story set in a country long ago or with different child care laws.


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## Jack of all trades (Jul 6, 2018)

bulmabriefs144 said:


> In the eyes of the law, a 19 year old is not a child. However, there are laws about fitness of raising a child without means of support.
> 
> The way you could handle this is write them as (a) the child is posing as their parent, using false info or (b) they are living somewhere outside a major urban area such as in a park, under a bridge, or out in the country or (c) this is a story set in a country long ago or with different child care laws.



You forgot having the nineteen year old getting a job. There may be even more options.

OP -- did these children inherit any money, or was there a life insurance policy or two? Was there a house that was paid off, or mortgage or rent payments to make? All of these things influence the number of possibilities.


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