Both grandparents should be ashamed of their acts.

The parents first choice was Conti . . . whether they lived in the US, Argentina or Timbuktu ? First choice comes with due thought provoking issues and that includes "the best interest of the children" as seen through the eyes of caring parents.

The US legal system made the 2 parties enemies and destroyed the harmonious relationship that could have blossomed. Sorry, its the lawyers that misuse the system and creates enemies and mistrust.

Lets take comfort in the facts that they would be closer to nature in Argentina by eating healthy and enjoying a better education system. I also hear medical care is free there. Kids read more there than watch TV and they have a better chance of growing up with less violence and more love. Bless their little hearts !

I totally agree. They are better off in Argentina than in the US.

Yeah snake09, free healthcare. In the U.S. the girl wouldn't have the life she needs due to the costs of healthcare in this country. Greed kills a lot of dreams here in the U.S. Sad state will all live in as Americans.

Coloradogirl - are you confused? Both parents said they wanted the maternal grandmother to take care of the kids, with the paternal (American) grandparents having them for one month. Seems to me it's the American grandparents who are causing all this grief.

I think the American grandparents wouldn't have put up such a fight if the little girl had not been so seriously injured in the wreck. It's very natural to worry about whether the medical care will be appropriate.

However, I think the will should be honored. Perhaps with time, the American grandparents will see that the kids are well, and hopefully the Argentine grandparents will honor the one month agreement.

Would it not be better for the American grandparents to be willing to go to Argentina, and see whether or not the children are thriving, rather than assuming that things will be bad? why not spend the month of January in Argentina, going to the doctor's appointments, and helping with the rehabilitation, then decide whether ot not the children's best interests are being met. And why the heck not learn to speak Spanish? The children were bilingual while there parents were alive, why can't the paternal grandparents at least try to be as well?

I think it is a bad assumption that the children can only be happy in the US. The paternal grandparents refusal to even look at the fact that the children might just be doing well is simply reprehensible, and I hope the court in Idado takes that into account.

As a single mother I worry daily about what would happen to my daughter if I were to die suddenly as I don't feel my family would take good care of her, and since her father has never been in her life, his side of the family is not an option. These children are blessed to have two sets of loving grandparents to care for them in their time of need, and I hope that someday they can come together in the children's best interests.

I agree with those who say the parents were naive to believe that two grandparents from totally different cultures could agree and work together. My god, it's hard enough for people from the same culture to agree on custody situations. Their will was not a legal document, it was just a note about what their wishes were. Those parents were irresponsible not have had the document legalized. The problems it created are tragic.

Even though I agree with those who say that the healthcare here would be much better than in a 3rd world country (just because it's free in Argentina doesn't mean it's better--in fact, that's probably a guarantee that it's worse), it's obvious (if this article is accurate) that the parents preferred the 3rd world lifestyle and would probably not mind that the kids are living there. To each his own.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with your assumption that the parent's will was not legal, and believe that it will hold up in a court of law.

Unless you can prove that the parents were somehow coerced, and were not of sound mind, the document they signed and gave to a close friend to execute, is in fact a legal document.

Are we forgetting that the argentina grandmother would had taken then girl off life support if it wasn't for the american grandparents stopping it? And by doing so she recovered!

Third world country? Since when is Argentina a third world country? This is news to me.

Argentina is not a third world country, however, it seems that the mother of these children wanted her parents to move to the US to raise them and offered her home as a place to accomplish that so the will has not been honored like she wanted it. The family returned to Argentina and that isn´t what the mother wanted. She wanted the children to remain in their home and not someone else´s. The Argentinan grandparents should have followed these wishes to the letter and with the letter could have since the children are US citizens. It really does not matter where we perceive that they would be better off but that the mother wanted them to stay in the US and to be shared by both grandparents inside the US their native country.

This touched me a bit because I have situation that could turn out much like this and it has given me a lot to think about. My son is both Honduran and a US citizen, born in the US. His father is Honduran by birth, but both a US citizen and a Honduran citizen as well. I am a US citizen by birth. I live in Honduras at present and until he reaches 18 want him to stay here with the consideration of visiting the US yearly. However, my parents are out of the question, and my husband´s parents are elderly. We have god parents who live in the US for him..this has given me much to think about tonight.

There would not have been any need for the judicial branch if the paternal grandparents had respected the wishes of the parents. Unfortunately they are arrogant and think they know better. They brought in the courts; the courts didn't step in just because they felt like it. I'm not a fan of big government either, but this isn't a case of government meddling, there are better cases to point out to support your point than this one.

Amen, Some people have to turn everything into a political statement. Please put aside your soapbox for now. This is about two children, two families and two parents last wishes. These wishes should have been honored from the begining. How sad that the Heisses would try to get around their son and daughter-in-laws last wishes. I do hope the Heisses get to have a relationshp with the children. I also hope they both families start honoring the parents very clear last wishes.

The wishes of the parents might have been honored if the "American" parents had not pulled the entitlement card and involved the law. How sad.

When the Conti's were named as the primary custodian of the children, the parents said that they "hoped" the children could be raised in the family home, but did not make that a directive. Of course, for the Conti's to raise the children in the family home, would have required them to become immigrants and apply for green cards, with all the none sense that can go along with that process. Raising the children in Argentina allows for them to get free health care, and for the children to be raised in the same type of environment they grew up in while living in Argentina. Plus at this age, the children maintain a dual citizenship that allows them to one day go back to the US should they decide to.

The problem here is that the American grandparents are too in to these children being raised in America, as if being raised anywhere else is so horrible! The American grandparents owe it to the children to at least make a trip to Argentina to see how things are going there, before deciding that things are automatically bad.

Hoped means that their desire was for the children to stay in their own home not someone else´s in a different place...leaving them in a familiar area. Hoped may have considered if the home no longer existed or if immigration did not allow them to come, but immigration would allow them..it is called special circumstances and there are exceptions such as welfare of the chidlren and custody that would allow them a visa with work priviledges until the children were grown.

This is a terribly sad situation for all involved.

ALSO COMPARE: A workers monthly salary in Argentina will pay for a surgery that would cost an American 3 years salary if one had to pay for it.

Its free in Argentina and these kids are orphans now. In the US working people cannot afford medical care. Think about it.

Firstly, the parents were against accumulating wealth, so who is to say the kids are "rich"? Orphans, of course, but rich...doubt that.

Secondly, it's unfortunate what happened to you in Argentina. However, you cannot compare someone falling off a mountain to ongoing rehabilitation for a brain-damaged child...apples to tanks, apples to tanks. Also, getting an infection after surgery or getting surgery after surgery to fix a small problem can happen in the the US. It has happened to quite a few of my family members - in America. And unlike in Argentina, we in the US have to pay for it.

Your break thx would cost you 10,000 dollars here in the U.S. Its the flat rate for specialists and the crew of workers you'd pay for. Greed has taken over the healthcare industry.

Surely this accident paid policy limits, since the (commercial) trucker was at fault. Likely an annuity was set up for the kids, especially for the girl's future medical costs. Doubtful this claim even went to court.

Maybe the boy will come some day to Cali and go to college. Hopefully the kids get a good life, and the grandparents live at least to the kids' maturity - tho' they'll need to set up a conservator for the girl's future care. So sad.

thx-113, do you have a copy of the will? I doubt that.

All we can go by is what the news reports, so assuming any knowledge beyond the news reports (that living in the home in Idaho was a demand and not "if such possibility exists") is speculation that isn't grounded in undisputed fact. That kind of a detail doesn't seem to be something that would be lied about just for the heck of it. They were born in America, but the parents had wishes that would make it hard for them to stay most of the year there. But they will be with family, and besides, they grew up in relative isolation in the back woods anyway, so beyond language, there may or may not be a huge adjustment, or the adjustment may have more to do with urban/rural than US/Argentina.

Should the kids desire to live in the US at some point (at least the son, I don't know to what degree the accident damaged the daughter's mental cognition and competency), then the decision can be made when they are of age. But don't assume that they will want to do so.

We're talking about Argentina, not Mexico. Big difference.

No matter what your age, once you have a child, you are never too young and it is never unusual to write a will. Not a handwritten will but a truly legal, witnessed, signed will - with the will of each parent agreeing on who the primary legal guardian will be. As someone else posted, it is better to have someoe close in age to the parents ( like a brother or sister) named as guardian rather than the grandparent in order to better assure they will be able to see the child to adulthood. When you add things like wanting the children remain in their own home or secondary guardians, matters get complicated. A lawyer could have pointed out all the possible scenarios that are happeneing now so they could have been avoided. It is very sad for all - as long as any of the parties feel the other might do a kdnap there will never be any peace. The ones who are losing are both the grandparents and the children who are not having relationships with both sets of grandparents. If you are 20 years old and have a child - write a legal will now .

The maternal grandmother was to get custody 11 months out of the year, and "if such possibility exists" the children would be raised in Idaho. It may not necessarily be a possibility, but the arrangement was still the same. There is nothing about the maternal grandparents moving 20 people to the US or dirt poor South Americans making money off of rich Americans. The article even stated that the parents weren't wealthy, just looked to make enough to support themselves.

Is there anything mentioned in the article about any kind of "insurance settlement?" You're assuming a lot that just isn't there.

If the parents didn't even draw up a legal/notarized will, who is to say they even had life insurance? With all the court costs and the Heisses putting Aliana in a nursing home, anything that may have been paid out due to the accident is probably long gone.

Considering that the maternal grandmother is able to fly back and forth, it sounds like they may have some money, and again, unless you're clairvoyant or you know them personally, you don't know if they're poor or not.

And on your last comment, yes there are cultural differences between how things are typically done in the US and European societies and what is often done is Latin American societies. However, considering how many people from Central and South America come to the US without their families for work, etc., it is clearly not the case that extended families all move together. That statement is just ignorant, it's not the truth.

thx-113

You are such an idiot and racist too I might add. I bet the Argentines are glad to be rid of you. What the hell did you go there for if you don't like these people. You know, the U.S. doesn't always have the inside track on living conditions, health care and parenting skills. Look at where we are at now. Seems to me that the maternal grandparents are doing more for this child than the paternal grandparents. After all, if I understand correctly, the girl was in a nursing home. Ever been in one of those. It's awful. This way she is living at home with, as you say, 20 caring people, not 3 unconcerned healthcare workers..

Another fool who doesn't understand the rest of the world. She'd probably have NO insurance in this country. Don't you get it?

Renea, Argentina is not a third world country.

The American grandparents live in Malibu, doubtful money is what they are thinking of...

I completely agree. It's such a sad story. Maybe the adults can find a way to get along for the kids sake.

I hope the paternal family goes down to visit and mend fences. Trust will be hard, but they really need to suck it up for the kids. My prayers for all sides of the family. Don't forget both sides lost their children, and the grandkids are all that is left. Very sad situation.