What Triggers the Termination of Parental Rights?

 Posted on November 26, 2024 in Child Custody

Parents facing the termination of parental rights can be devastated and may need legal assistance to prevent the termination from occurring. Illinois courts generally do whatever they can to ensure that both parents remain in the child’s life—so long as it is in the child's best interests to do so. Many factors relate to the termination of parental rights.

Termination can be voluntary or involuntary, but one parent is not allowed to simply petition to terminate the other’s parental rights. Family law attorneys are experienced in the legalities associated with the termination of parental rights. If you are facing involuntary termination of parental rights, it is in your best interests to seek legal assistance from an Oakbrook Terrace, IL family law attorney from Farooqi & Husain Law Office.   

What is Involved in the Termination of Parental Rights?

Parental rights can be terminated in the state in the following ways:

• Voluntary surrender of parental rights
• Voluntary consent to adoption
• A court finding of unfitness
• A court finding that the alleged father is not the biological or adoptive father
• A court finding that the father in question fathered the child through criminal sexual abuse or assault

In Illinois, terminating a parent’s rights means the parent will no longer make any decisions regarding the child’s care or upbringing and will no longer be financially responsible for the child. Illinois statutes detail the termination of parental rights. Whether the termination of parental rights is voluntary or involuntary will determine how the process is completed.

Involuntary termination requires clear proof of unfitness and proper legal procedures. This proof of unfitness is based on severe neglect, abandonment, mental health issues that hinder responsible parenting, criminal convictions related to especially heinous crimes, jeopardizing the child’s safety, and substance abuse that affects responsible caretaking.

Criminal convictions that could qualify for unfitness include first or second-degree murder convictions or other crimes like sexual abuse. Clear proof is required to terminate parental rights. This proof may include:

• Evidence of the inability or refusal to provide the child with adequate food, shelter, and clothing, despite the ability to do so. Evidence that the parent abandoned the child
• Evidence of repeated substantial neglect of the child
•  Evidence of extreme cruelty to the child
•  Evidence that the parent failed to protect the child from injurious conditions
•  Evidence of habitual drug use or drunkenness
• Evidence of any type of physical abuse
• Evidence of a mental impairment that is so severe it prevents the parent from providing the child with a safe environment.

The parent charged with unfitness may counter with proof of attempts to create a relationship with the child, proof of financial support, proof of attempts to visit and correspond with the child, or proof that the child’s other parent has interfered with attempts to have a relationship with the child.

Under voluntary termination, a parent surrenders a child to an adoption agency, agrees to adoption proceedings, or the putative father waives his right to object to an adoption. A parent is not allowed to terminate his or her parental rights simply to avoid financial responsibility for the child.

Contact a DuPage County, IL Family Law Attorney

If the court is attempting to terminate your parental rights against your will, speaking to an Oakbrook Terrace, IL family law attorney from Farooqi & Husain Law Office can be beneficial. We understand the gravity of the situation and will work hard on your behalf to stop the termination proceedings.

Attorney Naveed Husain brings his broad knowledge of Islamic family law and Islamic estate planning to legal issues, while attorney Ausaf Farooqi is also an experienced immigration and estate planning attorney. Contact Farooqi & Husain Law Office today at 630-909-9114 to schedule an initial attorney appointment.