Home School (legal question)

[JitterbugPerfume]

My ding bat religo-nut ex daughter in law has just informed my son (and his present wife , who is a legit teacher) that she is going to home school my 8th grade grand son this year.

My question is ---does my son have any legal rights in this matter? He is very actively involved with his son (as is my daughter in law) but his mom has full custody.

[ulysses]

1. can he prove that it's against the child's best interests?

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. I believe he can

but school starts Aug17

[Jim Warren]

2. Not a home school issue

I understand your concern however this is a custody question and who gets to exercise those rights.

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. so are you saying

my son should go for custody?

[nosmokes]

5. i'm no lawyer but sounds like a custody issue to me.

and if mom is claiming she's homeschooling for religous reasons then your son has one helluva fight on his hands.

[Jim Warren]

8. Needs sound child custody advice

We home-school, hence your OP caught my eye.

You stated the mom now has full custody. She gets to decide where the child
will go to school.
For example, divorced couples may disagree on which school to send their joint kids to, as in public, private, etc. The parent with custody will win out. The courts already decided by awarding custody to that parent.

My unsolicited opinion would be for the parents to amiably work it out together and arrive at a consensus that best benefits the child, and obviously does no further harm.

Otherwise your son would have to re-enter that fight, perhaps claiming endangerment.

Best of luck on this.

[Mind_your_head]

6. How does the 8th grade son/grandson feel about it?

Does he want to be homeschooled for his 8th grade year and why?

Btw, I don't homeschool my children, but currently know (and have known) several families that have very successfully homeschooled (some for just one year, others for much longer periods - lots of different reasons/circumstances for making the homeschool choice). With that said, it's also definitely "not for everybody" though.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. my grandson

wants to go to regular school like a regular kid


I am not opposed to homeschooling if one is qualified to do it but (I understand) that requirments are very lax in my state (Indiana) where my ex-DIL also lives . My son lives in Michigan

[Mind_your_head]

17. I don't really feel like you've given enough information, but

that's okay. My final thoughts on this subject would be:

- Why does your DIL want to homeschool the boy?
- If the boy doesn't want to be homeschooled for his 8th grade year, there's gonna be "a lotta tension" going on in that household - it won't be pretty. However, if he likes the idea, and your DIL is organized, motivated, and willing to hook into a network with other homeschoolers (they really do some cool things), it has the potential to be a pretty good learning experience.

As another poster stated, I hope everyone keeps the 'best interests' of the boy in mind, which would include not spending money on legal fees that would be better spent on the boy and the boy not seeing his parents going "bat-shit crazy" over the issue.

Similar to what was stated in post #12, perhaps a mediator could get the feelings of your grandson, then sit with both parents and hash it out. Then stick with whatever was worked out and not drag it out again and again.

Best of luck with puzzling it all out, I'm sure it won't be easy, but at least try and 'keep it sane'.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[knitter4democracy]

7. That's bad.

He might be able to get a judge to rule in his favor, but I doubt it. Custodial parents have more rights, including how to educate their children.

If she's planning on using the Berean system, he might have a leg to stand on (it's crap), but he still doesn't have much of an argument.

*sigh* That's really bad. I'm so sorry. I'm glad that my parents mostly agreed on my education stuff, even though they agreed on almost nothing else.

[pooja]

9. With the way schools have become "left behind" i'm tempted myself

to homeschool.

[Bridget Burke]

10. For a legal question....

He needs to get a lawyer.

[JitterbugPerfume]

14. I believe

that is his intention

[demosincebirth]

11. Family Law. Here is a link to ask a lawyer

Its free.




http://www.lawguru.com/cgi/bbs/user/submit.cgi

[treestar]

12. He should see a domestic relations lawyer

It depends on the state law and how the custody is worded. He may have "joint custody" and have a say in the child's education. "Full custody" is a meaningless term in most jurisdictions. Just something people throw around to claim they can do whatever they want without the other parent's input.

Residential custody is different from joint/sole custody. Just because the child lives with the mother does not mean the father has no say in basic and important things like religion and education. It just depends on the law of the state.

[JitterbugPerfume]

15. Thanks (everybody) for your imput

I will forward your advice and comments to my son

[MissB]

16. If she does end up homeschooling him,

your son could at least make sure she's meeting the state requirements for homeschooling. They vary from state to state- some states are much stricter than others.

[opihimoimoi]

18. Ask if there is a PHD Program available for the kid...if not...forget the

Home Schooling...