My Minor Niece has no legal guardian.

Location: Indiana
My Niece’s Location: South Carolina

My sister passed away at 39 in SC, as a single mom with 1 daughter, my niece 15 at the time. My niece is 17 now & still has no legal guardian. Her father isn’t in the picture, with his latest run in with the law being a case involved the worst crimes against little girls. He wasn’t on her birth certificate, but his mother said he’s on drugs too bad to provide anyway. My sister also had mental illness & hadn’t worked in over 10 years.

My niece moved in across the state 3 hours away to live with my mother’s sister, my retired aunt. My aunt hasn’t received any assistance to help with my niece besides Medicaid because my sister didnt work enough. DCS, including kinship care, will not open a custody case because my niece isn’t being abused, so told us to talk to Family Court. Family Court said they can’t help. I’ve played endless phone tag & also wasted my time in person. We can’t even get my niece’s birth certificate and vital documents because no one can prove they are her guardian & she can’t bc she’s a minor. She wants to start applying for colleges soon, but she is missing her necessary documents. I don’t want it to be an issue when she gets to college and has to fill out FAFSA. She’s not even considered emancipated because again, no case in the system & no one can start one without abuse.

How we do get my niece listed as my aunt’s dependent legally? She’s contacted legal services & the attorney never got back with her. We do this repetitive, fruitless cycle every few months. When I was in this position, I was listed as a ward of the state with a guardian ad litem until my sister could legally be listed as my guardian when my mother passed away, no abuse involved.