Maternal great-aunt is granted continued custody of 14 year old she has cared for since birth and permission to move out of state with child

Client(s) Client EB

Through its partnership with the Children's Law Center the firm became involved in representing a maternal great-aunt in a custody dispute over a 14 year old child the great-aunt had cared for since birth. The child's biological mother was seeking to regain custody of the child and prevent our client and the child from moving out of state despite the mother's demonstrated inability to care for the child. Our client sought to move out of state to be closer to family and provide the child with educational opportunities. Kristen Lejnieks and Alexandria Mihalcik filed an opposition to the mother's motion to modify custody and a cross motion to allow our client to move. A hearing was held before Judge McKenna in D.C. Superior Court on September 22, 2011. Following oral arguments, Judge McKenna found that our client should retain sole legal and physical custody of the child and can move out of state with the child at whatever time our client deems prudent.