My brother and his girlfriend recently split up. They have a 9 month old baby, my niece, together. My brother and family have been supporting the baby and his girlfriend since he found out she was pregnant. Well, when they split she went to her moms. It's been 2 weeks now and they will not let my brother or us see the baby. The grandmother of the baby in which they are now living with answers the phone and curses my brother and says nobody is taking the child out of the house. She also has used drugs in the past, I'm not sure about now though. But I know that my brothers girlfriends sister uses and she lives there too. I don't know what the hell to do. We are tore all to pieces and my brother is a mess. The breakup, he is fine with but not being able to see his daughter is killing him. Should we go ahead and get a lawyer now? I mean, what if it's years before we see her...
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The mother is the only legal parent of the child....because they weren't married your brothers "rights" are in limbo. It isn't that he doesn't have parental rights, it's that he hasn't petitioned the court to get them...it is kind of complicated but the way the system works is that he has to petition the court for paternity and custody, or depending on the state it may be called something different.
The best thing you can do is speak to a lawyer and get their advice. I can spout all I want about emergency custody and getting a hearing in less than a week because there is a child in danger, but that doesn't work in every county...or every state. the person who knows best what will work is a local lawyer.
Please remember you have to file in the county that the child lives in, not the father.