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| | How do I or the non-custodial parent terminate parental rights? |
There are three basic steps you need to take in order to terminate parental rights so that a stepparent may adopt the child.
- File the appropriate papers
- Notify the non-custodial parent
- Attend the court hearing
First, take or mail the necessary paperwork to the District Clerk's office at the courthouse, and pay the filing fees.
Second, you must notify the non-custodial parent that you have filed for the termination of their parental rights and adoption of the child by the stepparent. You have several options of notifying the non-custodial parent:
- A waiver. This option allows an agreeable biological parent to waive their right to being formally served a citation notifying them of your suit.
- Personal service gives you two options:
- By Constable/process server. The constable or process server actually goes out to where the biological parent lives or works and hands them the papers. The process server then completes a 'return of citation' showing that the biological parent was personally handed the papers.
- Certified mail sent by the Clerk’s office. This allows the biological parent to be notified, or served, through the mail with delivery restricted to the biological parent only. Once the biological parent has signed for the certified mail, the green card with his signature is returned to the Clerk's office as proof that he was served. At that point, the clerk then sends a letter to you verifying that service of process has been made.
- Service by publication. This allows cases to proceed even when the biological parent cannot be located to be notified or even if their identity is unknown. A notice is run in the newspaper in the county where the adoption suit is filed as service of process. The case proceeds just as if they had been personally notified.
After the non-custodial parent is notified, and depending in which state the adoption suit is filed in, a social study is conducted – even when the child to be adopted is already living with the stepparent.
A social study is a court-ordered evaluation where the adopting parent and the child to be adopted are each interviewed in their of place residence. The individual conducting the study will also observe how the adopting parent and child to be adopted interact with each other.
Although the social study may be seen as an "intrusion" on the family life of the parents, it creates no major additional steps. Either at the time the suit is filed, or shortly thereafter, the judge will designate a person or agency to conduct the social study.
Once the agency or person has contacted you for an interview in your home, they will file the required report with the court’s clerk. You will be able to see the report before the hearing date by simply going to the clerk's office, and asking to see your case file.
The final step is attending the hearing. If the court determines that the adoption is in the child's best interest, the judge will issue an order approving and finalizing the adoption – and terminating parental rights of the non-custodial parent.
This order, often called a final decree of adoption, legalizes the new parent-child relationship, and usually changes the child's name to the name the adoptive parents have chosen.
If you need to obtain the services of an attorney to assist you in parental rights and are interested to see what kind of services we have available for you to use, click here.
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