Many times clients come in and tell us that the Mother wants to terminate the Father’s rights to their child(ren).
Sometimes this means that the Mother wants to exercise sole parental responsibility (decision-making) and not allow the Father to have any timesharing with the child(ren).
In order to have this happen, the Mother would have to prove that it is not in the child(ren)’s best interests to have any contact (or maybe only supervised contact) with the Father and that sharing decision making would be harmful to the child(ren).
To accomplish this, the Mother might allege domestic violence which affects the child(ren), drug or alcohol abuse, or criminal activity or a history of incarceration.
If the Court were to order no contact or supervised contact, then the Court would also need to give the Father specific steps to take in order to regain the ability to have unsupervised timesharing with the child(ren).
If the Mother of the child(ren) wished to terminate the Father’s rights permanently, she would need to file a Petition for Termination of Parental Rights.
The standard of proof to permanently terminate a parent’s rights is very high – clear and convincing evidence that the action or activity occurred – not just an allegation.
The Court looks to Florida Statute 39.806 for activities which could lead to termination of a Father’s rights.
Some factors include…
- aggravated abuse of the child, or other children
- incarceration of the parent for a period of time that will likely last for most of the child(ren)’s minority
- abandonment
- and extensive or chronic alcohol/drug abuse that makes them unable to care for the child(ren)
A father can also voluntarily terminate his rights, however the Court generally won’t approve a voluntary termination if the only reason is to avoid paying child support.
If there is a step-parent willing to adopt the child(ren), the Courts will usually approve this type of termination.
Call Men’s Rights Law Firm today at 239-829-0166 to discuss any questions you may have concerning termination of parental rights.