Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina
Is waiving constitutional parental rights the same as termination of parental rights?
1 Answer from Attorneys
There is no such thing as 'constitutional parental rights' - its just plain 'ol parental rights. The constitution protects parental rights but those rights are not derived from the constitution. Also, you can't waive parental rights like you have some choice in the matter. Parental rights is a bad term because it makes dumb people think it is something they can just give up. A better term would be parental obligations because being a parent obligations to the child than the rights of the parent, obligations that you aren't allowed to simply just give up. So the answer to your question is no, because the first part about waiving constitutional parental rights is just made up fantasy silliness. Parental rights are taken from you. The closest you can come to waiving parental rights is consenting to them being taken from you. You can agree or choose to not exercise your parental rights but that's not the same as waiving or termination. Think of parental rights like a bank loan. The bank can terminate the loan so that you don't owe anything but you don't get to do that or waive or terminate the loan so that you don't owe anything - you will still owe. You can of course, stop paying, but that has consequences and isn't the same as waiving or termination.