The thought of losing their child fills most parents with abject terror. Losing a child to disease, accident, or fate is what most parents imagine, but it is also possible for the State to terminate your parental rights completely. This is more than just a social worker placing your child in foster care because you are temporarily unable to care for that child…this is a permanent severance of your legal right to raise or even have contact with your own child. How is this possible?
Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
The grounds a court can use to terminate your parental rights against your will are enumerated in O.C.G.A. 19-7-1(b) and include:
- Failure to provide necessaries for the child or abandonment of the child (abandonment is also a misdemeanor under O.C.G.A. § 19-10-1);
- Cruel treatment of the child;
- Conviction for the murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent of such child;
- A termination in the context of an adoption, where such termination is in the best interest of the child; and
- A termination in the context of a divorce, petition for legitimation or paternity, or a child custody proceeding, where such termination is in the best interest of the child.
The law allows a court to terminate parental rights when the parent’s actions have harmed or could harm the child.
Such harmful or potentially harmful actions include:
- When the child has been abandoned by their parent;
- There are aggravated circumstances (e.g. long-term incarceration of the parent);
- The parent failed to follow a child support order for an extended period of time (generally 1 year or longer); or
- There is a serious threat to the child’s mental, emotional, or physical safety.
After determining that termination of parental rights is authorized, the court should then determine what is in the best interest of the child based on:
- The child’s attachment, security, and familiarity with their parent;
- The child’s desire to stay with their parent;
- The child’s need for stability; and
- The child’s physical, mental, moral or emotional well-being.
Where does a termination of parental rights occur?
Parental rights can be terminated in:
- Superior Court, usually through an adoption. This may includeor private adoptions stepparent adoptions.
- Juvenile Court when a petition for the termination of parental rights is filed. These cases are often connected with an adoption or a dependency case (where the child has been found to be dependent on the State due to becoming orphaned or some neglect or failure to provide by the parent). Usually, the Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) is deeply involved in these cases.
What are my rights if my parental rights are being terminated?
You have the right to be properly served with the petition for termination and notice of the hearing. When a petition to terminate parental rights is filed, a summons must be served upon the child’s legal and biological parents. You also have a constitutional right to due process of law in the hearing itself.
The termination of parental rights is an extreme “remedy” and most courts would not even consider it unless the situation the child faces is truly dire. However, courts have been known to make mistakes from time to time. So if you are facing a possible termination of your parental rights that you do not consent to, then it is imperative for you to contact and retain an attorney immediately.