{"id":3728,"date":"2018-10-18T12:52:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T19:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-family-law\/?page_id=3728"},"modified":"2023-10-25T20:18:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T03:18:07","slug":"sign-over-parental-rights-to-family-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-family-law\/blog\/sign-over-parental-rights-to-family-member\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Sign Over Parental Rights to Family Member in Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"
In Arizona, parental rights may be terminated by consent or by court order. In either case, the court will only approve the action when doing so is in the best interests of the child. Furthermore, it’s important to note that terminating parental rights may not eliminate a parent\u2019s child support<\/a> obligation, as parental rights primarily relate to parenting time and legal decision-making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you are looking for legal representation to terminate your parental rights and move them to another family member, please contact our family law team. You can give us a call at (480) 467-4348<\/a> or fill out a form online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arizona law clearly states that parents have a natural right to parenting time, legal decision-making, visitation, and communication with their child. Parents also have an obligation to pay child support, which is entirely separate from parental rights.<\/p>\n A parent has the right to request that his or her parental rights be terminated, but it takes a court order to approve the termination of parental rights in Arizona. There\u2019s no hard-and-fast rule for approvals, but there are three situations that may result in a judge\u2019s stamp of approval:<\/p>\n If you believe it\u2019s in your child\u2019s best interests to sign over your parental rights to a family member, the first step is to consult with a family law attorney. With your attorney\u2019s assistance, you can file a motion for termination of parental rights in conjunction with the family member\u2019s adoption request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Keep in mind, however, that you cannot regain your parental rights once they have been terminated. Should you change your mind down the road and decide that you want to regain custody of your child, you would need to legally adopt the child, and the family member with custody of the child would need to sign their parental rights over to you. This can be extremely difficult to do when you previously convinced a judge that you\u2019re unfit to care for the child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you are unable to care for your child right now but do not want to permanently lose custody of your child, speak with an attorney about appointing a family member to serve as the child\u2019s guardian. A legal guardian can take custody of the child, and will have all of the necessary rights, privileges, and obligations to care for them until you are fit to resume caring for the child down the road.<\/p>\n Most of the time, termination of parental rights is done involuntarily by court order (meaning the parent objects or cannot be found). In these cases, the court is forced to take immediate action to protect the child and ensure they are properly cared and provided for.<\/p>\n In Arizona, there are 11 circumstances that can lead to involuntary termination of parental rights:<\/p>\n If the state moves to terminate your parental rights based on one of these conditions, you will need to work with an experienced family law attorney to defend your parental rights. In many cases, there are ways to ensure that the child\u2019s best interests are preserved without stripping you of your parental rights.<\/p>\n Parental rights and a parent\u2019s obligation to pay child support are two separate matters. Failure to pay child support doesn\u2019t automatically result in a parent losing their parental rights, and the termination of a parent\u2019s rights doesn\u2019t automatically mean that his or her child support obligation is also terminated. It’s possible to terminate both, but only when doing so is in the best interests of the child.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, a judge will only remove a child support order under two conditions:<\/p>\n If a judge rescinds a child support order and removes the obligation to pay child support going forward, the order only applies to future child support payments\u2014it does not eliminate unpaid child support. Any child support arrears would still need to be collected or settled with the state, or you will be subject to child support enforcement remedies<\/a>.<\/p>\nVoluntary Termination of Parental Rights<\/h2>\n
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Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights<\/h2>\n
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Termination of Parental rights and Child support<\/h2>\n
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