Explaining the Termination of Parental Rights

When parental rights are terminated, the biological parent will no longer have any legal rights or responsibilities to their child. They would have to conduct their lives as if they were strangers. Once a parent’s rights are terminated, they can no longer have contact with their child, give their opinion as to how or where the child is raised, or have any influence on the child’s life whatsoever. Additionally, the natural parent will have zero responsibility for the child.

A parent’s rights include having a say in the child’s education, religion, health care, extracurricular activities, where the child lives, who the child lives with, and moral upbringing. A parent’s rights also involve the parent’s right to custody and visitation of their own children.

Each parent has the same responsibilities to their own child, the duties and obligations owed to each child are uniform. Parents are obligated to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical care, dental care, education and a sound, moral upbringing. When a parent’s rights are terminated, they are absolved of all responsibilities to their child.

Voluntary and Involuntary Termination

The termination of parental rights can be either voluntary or involuntary. Typically, the termination is voluntary in the cases of adoption, in which case the child will live with and be raised by their adoptive parents. In order for this to occur, approval is required by the court. In order for parental rights to be terminated voluntary, a parent must give written consent showing good cause for the termination. The courts will take into account what is in the best interests of the child. Just because the parents have an agreement does not mean that the court will terminate parental rights. This is especially true if the custodial parent is on public assistance. Even if one parent is not meeting their support obligations, the court prefers not to support the children, and therefore would be more inclined to have the burden of child support be on the noncustodial parent, so that money can be collected at some point in time.

The courts are extremely reluctant to involuntarily terminate parental rights. If you are seeking to do so, you should contact a Las Vegas family law lawyer. The reasons for terminating parental rights involuntarily include: domestic violence, child abuse, conviction of crimes, neglect, and failure to pay child support (despite the ability to do so), molestation, mental instability and adoption.

Contact a Las Vegas termination of parental rights attorney from the Gordon Law Offices for more information.

Contact a Las Vegas termination of parental rights lawyer from our firm for a free consultation.