Notify an Indian tribe in a minor guardianship case

Why do Indian tribes need notice of a minor guardianship case? 

Federal and state law provide extra protections to Native American families in certain types of court cases. Along with giving notice to the children’s parents and any Indian custodians, you must give the children’s tribes (or possible tribes) notice that you’ve filed a court case affecting custody. 

This gives the tribe the chance to determine if the children are tribal members or eligible to be tribal members. If so, the tribe has the right to take part in the court case. 

Giving the tribe notice is just one step in a procedure that can take a long time or feel complicated. 

You must thoroughly investigate any tribal relative connections. If the child is an Indian child, you must prove to a judge that there were active efforts to provide services and programs to the children’s parents to try to keep the children with the parents. 

If you don’t correctly follow the required procedure, you risk not getting a court order or having your court order canceled later. Talk to a lawyer who’s familiar with the ICWA.

When do I have to give notice to an Indian tribe? 

When you file a guardianship case, here’s when you must give an Indian Tribe notice: 

• You know that the children are or may be tribal members.
• The children are eligible to be tribal members and have a parent who’s a tribal member.
• You learn about a child’s possible tribal heritage, even if you learn this later in the case.

You may have to give notice to more than one tribe. The children might be members of more than one tribe, or you might not be sure which tribe the children belong to. The instructions apply to all tribes the same. 

You must investigate and give notice to every tribe with possible connections to the children. Only a tribe can determine if children are tribal members or eligible for tribal membership. Each tribe has different eligibility requirements. 

How do I give the tribe notice? 

You must send a special notice plus a copy of your Guardianship Petition to the Indian children’s tribe by registered mail with return receipt requested. You must call the tribe or look online to find out who to send it to (the tribe’s designated agent) and the address where you must send it. 

What if we don’t know which tribe to give notice to? 

You must instead mail the papers to the Secretary of the Interior’s Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in Portland, Oregon. The ICWA notice has the address listed on it. 

The court forms assume you’ll always send a copy to the BIA. You should do this to cover all possibilities.

What happens after I mail the notice? 

Once you get back your receipts of delivery to the tribe or tribes and BIA, file the confirmations of receipt in your case. Your court case can’t go forward until at least 10 days after the tribe gets notice. The tribe can ask for an extra 20 days after that to get ready for any hearing scheduled.  

The Secretary of Interior has 15 days to give notice to the tribe. If the Secretary can’t verify within 15 days that the children meet the legal criteria of Indian children, or can’t find the parents or Indian custodians, the Secretary will tell the court how much more time, if any, is needed to complete the verification or the search.

If a tribe responds, the tribe may choose to take part in the case if the children are tribal members or eligible for membership. If the tribe doesn’t respond to written inquiries, make sure you mailed the notice to the correct address for the tribe’s designated agent. You might get help contacting the tribe from the Portland BIA office or the BIA’s central office in Washington, D.C.