Terminating parental rights is not a small step, and rightly so. It’s a very serious process that removes all legal responsibilities and rights from a parent, and courts do not lightly grant a request for the termination of parental rights. However, in some cases it’s warranted. It’s usually pursued either to protect the child’s safety or to allow for an adoption. A family law attorney in San Mateo can tell you more about your specific situation, but the following is generally the process for terminating parental rights in our state.
Terminating Parental Rights With a Family Law Attorney in San Mateo
Establishing the Legal Grounds for the Termination
Parental rights can’t be terminated on a whim; there must be grounds to justify the order. California law sets out specific grounds that can be brought, and you and your attorney will need to discuss which of these grounds is appropriate to your situation. One potential ground for termination is “failure to provide.” If a parent refuses to provide for their child or to maintain contact with them for at least a year, this could be seen as abandonment and could be grounds for terminating that parent’s rights. Parental rights can also be removed on the grounds that the child is not safe with the parent, though in these cases, the parents are frequently given an opportunity to resolve the issues that are making the situation unsafe.
Parental rights can also be terminated if a parent willingly surrenders them, and this sometimes happens in the case of adoption. Other grounds for termination include neglect or cruelty, the “moral depravity” of a parent, a parent becoming essentially disabled through addiction to alcohol or a controlled substance, mental illness or a serious disability on the part of the parent, or if the parent is convicted of a felony: though the nature of the crime for which the parent is convicted must be such that it demonstrates the parent to be unfit.
It’s also important to verify that you are legally permitted to seek the termination. The state, through its child welfare agencies, can file for termination of the parent’s rights if a child is in foster care and the child’s parent is not improving personally or attempting to do so. In this case, it is unlikely that the parent will ever be able to regain custody, and it’s in the child’s best interest to allow them to be adopted. In other cases, a custodial parent may request termination to allow for a stepparent adoption. A child’s guardian or a child’s attorney can also request it.
Initial Steps
The first step will be filing a petition in the court that has jurisdiction over the case, and your lawyer can tell you which court that will be in your situation. You must provide evidence of the grounds for which you are requesting termination. The required standard is quite high here. The evidence must be clear and convincing to ensure that there are no mistakes.
The parent who is facing the termination of their rights will then be notified of the proceedings and has the right to respond or contest the petition. This is called “service of process,” and the parent must be provided with all the legal documents related to the petition and clearly understand the date of the hearing. If no one knows where the parent is, then the court may publish a notice in the local newspaper and is likely to assign an investigator to the case. The investigator will conduct interviews and do everything possible to contact the parent. If they cannot be found, then the judge may sign off on the termination of parental rights.
Voluntary Termination
In many adoption cases, parents voluntarily surrender their parental rights. Even if they wish to do so, however, you will still need to draft a legal pleading to formally make a request of the court and go through a hearing to get this done.
The Court Hearing
Assuming that the parent is contesting the loss of their rights, both sides will need to prepare for a hearing where they can present their case. You as a petitioner will need to show clear and convincing evidence that the termination is in the best interest of the child. This evidence will likely include police reports, medical reports, and witness testimony. Valuable witnesses would likely include family members and friends, but could also include social workers; teachers or other professionals involved in the child’s life; pastors or priests; or therapists and child psychologists. Your lawyer will not only prepare your side but we will also prepare to cross-examine witnesses brought by the parent.
It’s important to always bear in mind that the primary focus of the court will be the well-being and safety of the child. The court will want to consider the emotional ties the child has to their parent as well as all incidents of abuse and evidence of neglect. The court will also consider the potential for a stable future and whether that is best achieved with the parent or someone else. The court will also evaluate whether the parent has met other court-ordered requirements. For example, if the grounds for terminating parental rights is substance abuse, and the parent has been ordered to attend rehab, much will depend on whether the parent complied with this order and what the result has been.
Possible Outcomes
There are basically three possible outcomes to this hearing. The first would be the immediate termination of the parent’s rights. If the evidence is strong, this is a likely outcome. If the evidence is not strong, or if the other parent has equally strong evidence showing why their rights should not be terminated, then the court may disallow the termination entirely. The third option is that the court may order further services, like rehab or counseling, before making a final decision on the matter.
It’s the court does terminate a parent’s rights, the parent has a certain amount of time to appeal that decision, depending on which court has made the decision. Appeals cannot be brought on the basis of disliking the outcome: appeals can only be brought by asserting that a legal error was made during the original process.
Post-Termination
Once a parent’s rights have been terminated, they lose all legal ties to the child. This means that they are not entitled to custody, visitation, or any part in making decisions for their child. However, this also means they are relieved of all responsibilities regarding the child, as well. If the parent was paying child support up to this point, that will be terminated as soon as their parental rights are terminated.
It’s important as you go into this process to understand that while this can bring a great deal of stability for a child, it can also present emotional challenges that you may want to consider counseling or therapy to help with.
Reinstatement
Reinstatement is very rare, but if a child has not been adopted after three years, and if a parent shows significant improvement, the court may be willing to consider reinstatement.
For help with your case, contact the Seeley Family Law Practice APC in San Mateo today. We have served families in the Bay Area for years and are client-focused and trial-ready.
