Guardianship of Hansen

Citations

• 1 Coffey 182

Syllabus

<p>Guardian—Eligibility of Nonresident.—Where the mother of a minor is a nonresident, she is legally incapable of obtaining letters of guardianship over the child in this state.</p> <p>Guardian—Eligibility of Married Woman.—Where the mother of a minor is a married woman, she is ineligible to become guardian.</p> <p>Guardian—Choice of Child.—A child ten years of age who has been educated carefully and is a bright girl may be capable of expressing “an intelligent preference” for a guardian, which the court will consider.</p> <p>Guardian—Best Interests of Ward.—In awarding the custody of a minor, or appointing a general guardian, the court is guided by what appears to be for the child’s best interests as to its temporal, mental and moral welfare.</p> <p>Guardian.—Where Application is Made for Guardianship of a Minor, if there is no person before the court who is legally entitled to the guardianship, it must be shown, to justify a resistance of the application, even by the nonresident mother, that no guardian is needed for the child, or that the applicant is an unfit person.</p> <p>Guardian—Stranger Preferred to Mother.—Where a mother, after desertion by her husband, committed her child to the care of the petitioner, agreeing that he should adopt it (which he never legally did), and afterward, under judgment in an action for divorce by the mother, the child was awarded to petitioner; and the petitioner kept the child for nearly six years, until the mother wanted to get the child again, when he applied for guardianship of her, the mother opposing it, and the divorce decree being modified pending the guardianship proceedings, so as to remit the question of custody to the guardianship department; and during all the period aforesaid petitioner and his wife treated and educated the child as if she were their own; and the mother is legally incapable and ineligible to become guardian, being a nonresident and married; and the child has expressed a preference for petitioner, and