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Custody & Kidnapping

.Can I give up my parental rights?

THIS WAS WRITTEN TO A BRIEF, 1 LINE EMAIL – IF YOURS GAVE MORE DETAILS, AMEND THIS EMAIL ACCORDINGLY AND REMOVE WHAT ISN’T NECESSARY
Because your email is brief I will provide general information, however, if you’d like to reply with more details about your situation (such as, do you want to give up your parental rights to give the other parent full custody? Or are you thinking about giving up your parental rights so the spouse of the other parent can adopt your child? Or are you planning on handing your child over to the state to be put up for adoption? Or for another reason?), I may be able to provide you with more specifics.

Generally, if a person wants to give up custody of a child, the other parent may file for custody in court and the parent who does not want custody would consent to the custody order - and if the judge believes it is in the child’s best interest, s/he may grant custody. Keep in mind that so that a non-custodial parent is still liable to pay child support.

If a person wants to terminate his/her parental rights altogether and have no rights and responsibilities to the child, I am not specifically familiar with [STATE’]s laws so I am not sure if or how you would be able to terminate your rights and duties to pay support. Often times a parent’s rights are terminated in response to an abuse or neglect case brought by the state’s child protective agency – I am not sure if/how a parent can terminate his/her rights voluntarily outside of such a case.

If you want specific advice on your situation, you really need to speak to an attorney who is familiar with custody issues, especially as they pertain to termination of parental rights. Here is a link to free and paid lawyers: LINK

And, if you’d like to read more about custody in general, see the following link:LINK

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