Explained In Detail — Father’s Parental Rights And When Does A Father Lose Parental Rights

Nick Jackson
4 min readAug 17, 2021

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The basic definition of parental responsibility and a father’s right to his child is a list of legal rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and authority, which you have about your child or children and their property. But the main question.

If you already have parental responsibility, you will be entitled to voice your opinions in crucial matters affecting a child’s upbringing. For example, this could encompass making decisions on a child’s medical treatment, education, and whether or not a child can be removed from the jurisdiction.

Please note that parental responsibility is different from the decisions about who the child spends time with and where the child lives.

Obtaining Parental Responsibility

If you do not have automatic parental responsibility, Kew Law can help you to achieve this objective.

This could include:

  • An agreement between you and the child’s mother about the joint parental responsibility for your child.
  • They obtain a Court Order regarding the child’s arrangements (who the child will spend time with or live with) or a parental responsibility order.
  • It is being approved as the child’s guardian.

In addition, if there are doubts about whether you are the child’s father, we can ask the Court to order genetic tests by comparing DNA samples between you and your child.

Factors Taken Into Consideration To Decide When Does A Father Lose Parental Rights

Parents might not agree on custody issues during a divorce, or one parent might not trust the other with the children. Therefore, on a judge’s order or at the request of a parent, a child custody evaluation may be held.

The purpose is to determine if allowing one or both parent’s custody is in the child’s best interest or if the child’s health, safety, and welfare are at risk. The evaluator will consider the following ten factors when deciding.

Setting Age-Appropriate Limits

Is a five-year-old child allowed to watch R-rated movies regularly?

What kind of curfew does the parent set for a teenager?

Parents will not always agree about age-appropriate limitations, but when you have one parent who is allowing extreme situations, this may be a red flag. When parents share joint legal custody, they should jointly decide what is age-appropriate, but this does not include minor things such as bedtime.

This is when co-parenting comes into play, and you have to trust your co-parent is making appropriate decisions in their household.

Understanding And Responding To The Child’s Needs

How sensitive is the parent to the child’s needs?

Does the parent try to communicate in a way the child can understand?

How responsive is the parent to the child?

A child needs to feel heard and cared for by both parents. Navigating two separate households is just as challenging for the child as it is for the parents.

It is important the child feels they can communicate the same regardless of which house they are in. If there seems to be a disconnect, is a parent responding appropriately and obtaining help when necessary?

These are all essential characteristics of a strong relationship. However, it is vital to understand when a father loses parental rights when he does not. To know about the legal elements of the same, click here.

Conclusion

The evaluator appointed by the court may review court documents and health records, observe parent/child interactions, or interview parents, children, and involved professionals (i.e., teachers, doctors, etc.). The evaluation will likely also include psychological testing of the parents to aid the evaluator in making a recommendation on what is in the child’s best interest.

When the evaluation is complete, the evaluator will prepare a report for the court to decide. If either parent disagrees with the information, an opportunity will be provided to present objections to the court, including testimony or evidence to the contrary. This report is confidential; if you disclose the contents, you could be fined, ordered to pay the other party’s attorneys’ fees, or both.

Also, the court may consider appointing the minor’s counsel, who will represent the child in making sure the child’s voice is also heard in a high conflict custody case.

Coming up with evidence to prove an unfit parent may not be that difficult as we live in a digital age. Parents can use photos, videos, and even comments on social media in court to help prove an unfit parent.

Have questions or want more information? Click here to know more.

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