Terminating parental rights in Florida is a complicated legal process. Whether you want to place a child with an adoptive family and voluntarily terminate your parental rights or whether you want to protect your rights as a parent, you will benefit from having an experienced family law attorney working with you. The lawyers at The Law Offices of Travis R. Walker, PA, can help with your questions about parental rights and work in the best of you and your children.
Being a parent comes with significant responsibilities. Parents are responsible for overseeing the welfare of children until they are adults who can care for themselves. In some cases, parents need assistance caring for children, or they may feel that their children would be best served in the custody of someone else.
The lawyers at The Law Offices of Travis R. Walker, PA, have decades of experience working in Florida family courts. Whether you are a struggling parent hoping to keep your family together or need help understanding how to terminate someone’s parental rights in Florida, our attorneys can help.
EXPERT ADVICE“In Florida, petitioning to terminate someone’s parental rights is a nuanced process, requiring careful adherence to statutory criteria and a focus on the child’s best interests. Legal representation can be valuable, ensuring the complexities of the procedure are navigated effectively.”
-Travis R. Walker | Founder and Philanthropist
Florida recognizes that the parent-child relationship is one of the most fundamental aspects of family life. Under state law, parents generally have the right to spend time with their children and decide who else has access to them. Parents have the authority to make decisions regarding medical care, education, and religious upbringing, among other things.
Parents also have responsibilities to provide for the welfare of the child. Florida expects parents to ensure children receive food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and appropriate education. If parents demonstrate that they cannot provide for a child or if there is evidence that they are harming the child, the state can terminate their parental rights.
In some cases, parents may voluntarily terminate their parental rights. This most often occurs when parents agree to place a child for adoption.
Florida recognizes that keeping families intact is usually in children’s best interest. However, in some situations, the child’s best interests are served by terminating parental rights and moving forward with a formal care plan for the child’s future. Circumstances like abuse, neglect, abandonment, or parental incarceration can give rise to the need to terminate parental rights. Even in these cases, there is a process that the state must follow before permanently separating children from their parents.
In some cases, the termination of parental rights in Florida happens only after the state has tried to work with parents to improve conditions for the child and keep the family together. Courts may rule that a child is dependent, meaning the child’s welfare depends on the state overseeing the parent to ensure they can care for the child.
In these cases, the state will create a care plan for the parent to follow after a dependency ruling. The state will also provide resources to help the parent follow the care plan. If the parent cannot fulfill the terms of the care plan, the state may move to terminate the parent’s rights.
It is not easy to terminate parental rights in Florida. The state will work to keep parents and children together whenever possible. The state designed processes and allocated staff to assist struggling parents with improving their personal circumstances and retaining their parental rights.
The first step is filing a petition to terminate parental rights. Most often, this is done by a court-appointed guardian ad litem for the child or the person stepping up to take emergency custody of the child. The petition has to show legal cause for terminating parental rights.
Once a petition to terminate parental rights has been filed, there will be a hearing. A family court judge will hear evidence and testimony about the allegations in the petition. The parent has a right to contest the petition in the hearing and try to retain their parental rights.
The court will make a decision based on the evidence presented. As with all matters involving the custody of children, the court is obliged to act in the best interests of the child. Most terminations of parental rights are permanent.
