Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Termination of Parental Rights after one year
I am wanting to have the parental rights taken from my ex-husband. We divorced in the state of Flordia and I have moved back to Texas. I was given sole custody of my infant child and was told I had to wait one year to have his rights terminated. He has not had any involvement with my child and has shown no intrest. He has two outstanding warrants in the state of Flordia, and was other than honorable discharged from the military. I was just wondering what steps I need to take and if it's likely for me to be able to have parental rights terminated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Termination of Parental Rights after one year
Involuntary termination of parental rights is the "capital punishment" of family law. The courts go overboard in protecting parental rights, even to the extent of providing a free attorney to indigent parents.
Texas has no one-year law other than in conjunction with other grounds. The grounds for terminating prental rights are spelled out in the family code and include neglect, abandonment, and non-support.
If you can prove those, then you might be able to terminate the rights. Typically judges do not like to do that because there would be one less person left to support the child if something were to happen to you.
The first matter would be to determine if jurisdiction lies in Florida or Texas and, if not Texas, get it moved if Texas law would be better for you.
Be aware that if he fights the termination, it is an expensive project.
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