Parental Rights Termination Form

Child abandonment occurs when a parent, guardian, or person in charge of a child either deserts a child without any regard for the child's physical health, safety or welfare and with the intention of wholly abandoning the child, or in some instances, fails to provide necessary care for a child living under their roof.

Parents will have to file a petition with their local court requesting a hearing to determine parental rights. Once a petition is filed, parents need to attend a hearing before the judge who will determine whether rights will be granted/terminated.

Absent parent: If a parent has been absent for 6 months or more, the law allows the other, more responsible parent, to petition to terminate parental rights. Not just parents can terminate: in fact, anyone with an interest in the well-being of a child can attempt to terminate one or both parents' rights.

In order to prove abandonment, the abandoned spouse must use direct or constructive evidence to demonstrate their claim. The spouse claiming abandonment must prove that the couple kept separate residences and didn't engage in marital relations for a required period, usually a year.

Once abandonment has been proven, the parental rights of the parent who abandoned the child can be terminated.Typically, these are scenarios in which the biological father is uninvolved in the child's life, and he may even be difficult or impossible to locate.

The parent or parents have left the child and failed to provide identification for the child (An example of this is providing a birth certificate); The parent or parents have failed to provide support for the child for an extended period of time;

The abandoning of a child occurs when a child is left by their parent/guardian, without the intention of returning to the child to ensure they are safe and well.Under child abandonment law a parent can face a custodial sentence if convicted of abandoning their child.