Siblings oppose brother’s guardianship of young nephew

Siblings oppose brother’s guardianship of young nephew "My brother filed a petition for the guardianship of our minor nephew. Can he do that even if I am the eldest in the family? My siblings and I are against him being the legal guardian of our nephew. What can we do about it? I hope you can help me. FinaDear Fina, As a rule, the father and the mother shall jointly exercise parental authority and legal guardianship, over the person and property of their minor child. However, there are instances when a petition for guardianship over the minor may be filed. These are the following: 1) death, continued absence, or incapacity of his parents 2) suspension, deprivation or termination of parental authority 3) remarriage of his surviving parent, if the latter is found unsuitable to exercise parental authority or 4) when the best interests of the minor so request (Section 4, A.M. No. 03-02-05-SC, dated April 01, 2003). Based on these grounds, any relative or other person on behalf of the minor or the minor himself, if 14 years of age or over, may petition the Family Court for the appointment of a general guardian over the person or property, or both, of such minor (Section 2, ibid.). Hence, your brother may file the said petition for being a relative of your minor nephew. It doesn’t matter whether or not he is the eldest relative of the minor.The minor child’s welfare is the primary consideration of the court in determining who will be his legal guardian. As far as practicable, the court shall see to it that the minor’s rights and interests will be protected. To ensure this end and as part of the guardianship proceedings, the court shall order a social worker to conduct a case study of the minor and all the prospective guardians and submit his report and recommendation to the court for its guidance before the scheduled hearing for the guardianship (Section 9, ibid.) If you have objections regarding the appointment of your brother as your nephew’s legal guardian, you may file an opposition to his petition. Section 10 of the Rules on Guardianship of Minors authorizes the filing of an opposition of any interested person by filing a written opposition and stating therein the reason why your brother should not be appointed as a guardian. You may include in your opposition a prayer for the denial of your brother’s petition and the issuance of the letters of guardianship to you or to any other person whom you think is suitable to be your nephew’s guardian. Finally, we wish to remind you that this opinion is solely based on your narration of facts and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary if other facts are added or elaborated.We hope that we were able to address your concern. Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299)." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/