Termination of parental rights is a court order that permanently severs the legal parent-child relationship in order to serve the welfare and best interests of the child. Public policy presumes "best interests" to mean contact with and support from both parents, until and unless the court determines the parent(s) to be unfit.
IMPORTANT: Termination of parental rights IS NOT granted by the courts on request or by mutual agreement of the parents as a means of solving visitation or support disputes.
BASICS:
California courts terminate parental rights of one or both parents through the following:
1) In Juvenile Dependency Court: The child becomes a ward of the court, and termination is involuntary when the court finds that the parent(s) have abused, neglected or abandoned a child, and/or that the parents suffer from some mental or physical incapacity that makes it impossible for them to provide normal parental care.
2) In Family Court, voluntarily when the birth parents relinquish the child to an agency adoption or to an independent adoption, or in a parentage action, without the consent of the father if the court terminates his parental rights in the best interests of the child.
3) In Family Court, when a stepparent adopts the child. Termination is with the consent of the non-custodial parent, or without his or her consent if the court finds that the parent has willfully abandoned the child.
4) In Family Court, when a minor at least 14 years old petitions the court for emancipation to become an adult before the age of 18, receives written permission from the parent(s) and the court finds that granting emancipation "would not be contrary to the minor's best interest." (Emancipation can be rescinded, or reversed.)
SELF HELP
Do Your Own California Adoption. KFC 132.Z33
Attorneys wrote this book for the layperson. It assumes there is a stepparent adoption in process, but it has some good plain-English text about termination and willful abandonment. The book comes with a CD that includes required forms for this stepparent adoption process.
LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS and LAW SUMMARIES
California Jurisprudence 3d. KFC 80.C35
Volume 32, Family Law, Chapter VI, "Parent and Child Relationship", Sections 329-390, "Termination." These sections will give you the fundamentals of the types of termination, including references to the governing law and to court opinions on these matters.
Electronic Access: On the law library's computers; use the Westlaw database.
IN DEPTH RESEARCH
California Family Law, Practice and Procedure. KFC 115.L87
Volume 5, Termination of Parental Rights, Chapter 171
This is an excellent source for sorting out the circumstances and the law behind voluntary and involuntary termination. For forms and pleadings, see the next reference.
Electronic Access: On the law library's computers, use the LexisNexis CD database.
California Forms of Pleading and Practice. KFC 1010.A65 C3
The chapters listed here provide detailed background, analysis, references to the statutes you will need to read, case law citations, and sample forms and pleadings.
Volume 2, Adoptions-Termination of Parental Rights, Chapter 12A
Volume 20, Emancipation of Minors, Chapter 245
Volume 28, Juvenile Courts: Dependency Proceedings, Chapter 328
Electronic Access: On the law library's computers, use the LexisNexis CD database.
California Juvenile Dependency Practice. KFC 1196.C35
This manual sorts out the complex processes of juvenile dependency court, and it provides references to the law, case law citations, and sample forms and pleadings.
Electronic Access: On the law library's computers, use the Onlaw database.
FORMS
You will find official, fill-in-the-blank forms that are available for your case at:
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms, under Adoption, or Juvenile www.saccourt.ca.gov, under Juvenile
www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG183.htm. This is the forms page at theCA Dept. of Social Services website. Any termination that involves this agency will require some of their forms.
STATUTES
Many separate but interrelated sections of California law govern these complex legal issues, primarily in the Family Code but also in the Welfare and Institutions Code 361.5 and 366.2.
Online: Codes are available for searching or browsing at www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html
In the Law Library: You can find these codes annotated with case notes and lists of sources to consult for further research. Ask the librarian to show you where they are.
CASE LAW
CFLP: California Family Law Practice. KFC 115.C35 (Branch Library Only)
Volume 2, Tab G, Section XVII, Termination of Parental Rights explains termination law through a discussion of court opinions on the subject. Use the Topical Index at the end of Volume 5 to find related subjects, such as Child Support.
WEB SITES
These public domain internet pages will get you started, but they are no substitute for the official law or for the authoritative material in the law library. The library's print and online sources will help to clarify the issues and explain in more detail the law and procedure.