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Terminating parental rights

Formal Court Proceeding Can Legally End a Parent – Child Relationship

Broward & Miami-Dade County

Some may be surprised that the relationship between a parent and his or her child is not unbreakable. The Florida legistlature allows the state (like other states) to exercise its legal power to end a parent-child relationship.

The end of the relationship commences when a petition is filed in a formal legal proceeding wherein “termination of parental rights” is sought. Once a judge issues an order formally terminating parental rights, there is NO longer a legal parent and child relationship. The child is cared for by others (for example, in an adoption) or becomes a responsibility of the State of Florida (for instance, when the Florida Department of Children and Families has become involved in cases of child abuse or neglect).

Florida Law Respects a Parent’s Right to Care and Raise their Kids

The Florida Supreme Court recognizes that parents have a “fundamental liberty interest,” with both federal and state constitutional protections, to raise and care for their children as they see fit. See, e.g., Beagle v. Beagle, 678 So.2d 1271, 1275 (Fla. 1996); Padgett v. Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Services, 577 So.2d 565, 570 (Fla.1991). The United States Supreme Court likewise respects a parent’s rights in the care and upbringing of their children as those of a fundamental liberty protected by the federal constitution. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982).

Nevertheless, there are situations where the law will step into the parent – child relationship and if evidence burdens are met, end that relationship permanently.

In short, there are specific, legally defined situations where there can be a termination of parental rights in Florida:

  1. Voluntary surrender of the child with consent for the child to be adopted;
  2. Abandonment of the child (as defined in Florida Statute 39.01(1) or where parent cannot be located and/or identified for 60 days);
  3. Continuing the parent’s relationship with the child shown to threaten the life, safety, well-being, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the child;
  4. Parent is incarcerated (1) for a time period that is a “significant portion of the child’s minority” or parent is legally deemed a violent career criminal (Florida Statute 775.084); a habitual violent felony offender (Florida Statute 775.084); or a sexual predator (Florida Statute 775.21); has been convicted of first degree or second degree murder (Florida Statute 782.04) or a sexual battery that constitutes a capital, life, or first degree felony violation of (Florida Statute 794.011) or has been convicted of an offense in another jurisdiction which is substantially similar to one of the offenses listed in this paragraph.
  5. Parent is incarcerated and it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that continuing the parental relationship with the incarcerated parent would be harmful to the child and that termination is in the best interest of the child.
  6. When a child has been adjudicated dependent, found to be a victim of abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and after a case plan has been filed with the court, (1) the parent(s) fail to substantially comply with the case plan for a period of 12 months after adjudication of the child as a dependent child or the child’s placement into shelter care, whichever occurs first (detailed hurdles here); or (2) the parent)s) are shown to have materially breached the case plan.
  7. The parent(s) engaged in egregious conduct or had the opportunity and capability to prevent and knowingly failed to prevent egregious conduct that threatens the life, safety, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the child or the child’s sibling.
  8. The parent(s) have subjected the child or another child to aggravated child abuse as defined in (Florida Statute 827.03), sexual battery or sexual abuse (Florida Statute 39.01), or chronic abuse.
  9. The parent(s) have committed the murder, manslaughter, aiding or abetting the murder, or conspiracy or solicitation to murder the other parent or another child, or a felony battery that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child.
  10. The parental rights of the parent to a sibling of the child have been terminated involuntarily.
  11. The parent(s) have a history of extensive, abusive, and chronic use of alcohol or a controlled substance which renders them incapable of caring for the child, and have refused or failed to complete available treatment for such use during the 3-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition for termination of parental rights.
  12. A test administered at birth that indicated that the child’s blood, urine, or meconium contained any amount of alcohol or a controlled substance or metabolites of such substances, the presence of which was not the result of medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant, and the biological mother of the child is the biological mother of at least one other child who was adjudicated dependent after a finding of harm to the child’s health or welfare due to exposure to a controlled substance or alcohol (39.01), after which the biological mother had the opportunity to participate in substance abuse treatment.
  13. On three or more occasions the child or another child of the parent or parents has been placed in out-of-home carepursuant to this chapter, and the conditions that led to the child’s out-of-home placement were caused by the parent or parents.
  14. The court determines by clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived as a result of an act of sexual battery made unlawful (Florida Statute 794.011), or pursuant to a similar law of another state, territory, possession, or Native American tribe where the offense occurred. It is presumed that termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child if the child was conceived as a result of the unlawful sexual battery.

Florida Statute 39.806 – Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights

The Florida Legislature has written into law how and when this can happen; reading the law, you will see termination of parental rights is not easily done in Florida. However, there are certain occasions where Florida courts are allowed to interrupt and permanently sever that legal bond.

Florida Statute 39.806 (entitled “Grounds for termination of parental rights”) lists 12 bases under which a Florida court can terminate parental rights. Here is the complete text of this important statute:

(1) Grounds for the termination of parental rights may be established under any of the following circumstances:

(a) When the parent or parents have voluntarily executed a written surrender of the child and consented to the entry of an order giving custody of the child to the department for subsequent adoption and the department is willing to accept custody of the child.
1. The surrender document must be executed before two witnesses and a notary public or other person authorized to take acknowledgments.
2. The surrender and consent may be withdrawn after acceptance by the department only after a finding by the court that the surrender and consent were obtained by fraud or under duress.

(b) Abandonment as defined in s. 39.01(1) or when the identity or location of the parent or parents is unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent search within 60 days.

(c) When the parent or parents engaged in conduct toward the child or toward other children that demonstrates that the continuing involvement of the parent or parents in the parent-child relationship threatens the life, safety, well-being, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the child irrespective of the provision of services. Provision of services may be evidenced by proof that services were provided through a previous plan or offered as a case plan from a child welfare agency.

(d) When the parent of a child is incarcerated and either:
1. The period of time for which the parent is expected to be incarcerated will constitute a significant portion of the child’s minority. When determining whether the period of time is significant, the court shall consider the child’s age and the child’s need for a permanent and stable home. The period of time begins on the date that the parent enters into incarceration;
2. The incarcerated parent has been determined by the court to be a violent career criminal as defined in s. 775.084, a habitual violent felony offender as defined in s. 775.084, or a sexual predator as defined in s. 775.21; has been convicted of first degree or second degree murder in violation of s. 782.04 or a sexual battery that constitutes a capital, life, or first degree felony violation of s. 794.011; or has been convicted of an offense in another jurisdiction which is substantially similar to one of the offenses listed in this paragraph. As used in this section, the term “substantially similar offense” means any offense that is substantially similar in elements and penalties to one of those listed in this subparagraph, and that is in violation of a law of any other jurisdiction, whether that of another state, the District of Columbia, the United States or any possession or territory thereof, or any foreign jurisdiction; or
3. The court determines by clear and convincing evidence that continuing the parental relationship with the incarcerated parent would be harmful to the child and, for this reason, that termination of the parental rights of the incarcerated parent is in the best interest of the child. When determining harm, the court shall consider the following factors:
a. The age of the child.
b. The relationship between the child and the parent.
c. The nature of the parent’s current and past provision for the child’s developmental, cognitive, psychological, and physical needs.
d. The parent’s history of criminal behavior, which may include the frequency of incarceration and the unavailability of the parent to the child due to incarceration.
e. Any other factor the court deems relevant.

(e) When a child has been adjudicated dependent, a case plan has been filed with the court, and:
1. The child continues to be abused, neglected, or abandoned by the parent or parents. The failure of the parent or parents to substantially comply with the case plan for a period of 12 months after an adjudication of the child as a dependent child or the child’s placement into shelter care, whichever occurs first, constitutes evidence of continuing abuse, neglect, or abandonment unless the failure to substantially comply with the case plan was due to the parent’s lack of financial resources or to the failure of the department to make reasonable efforts to reunify the parent and child. The 12-month period begins to run only after the child’s placement into shelter care or the entry of a disposition order placing the custody of the child with the department or a person other than the parent and the court’s approval of a case plan having the goal of reunification with the parent, whichever occurs first; or
2. The parent or parents have materially breached the case plan. Time is of the essence for permanency of children in the dependency system. In order to prove the parent or parents have materially breached the case plan, the court must find by clear and convincing evidence that the parent or parents are unlikely or unable to substantially comply with the case plan before time to comply with the case plan expires.

(f) The parent or parents engaged in egregious conduct or had the opportunity and capability to prevent and knowingly failed to prevent egregious conduct that threatens the life, safety, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the child or the child’s sibling.
1. As used in this subsection, the term “sibling” means another child who resides with or is cared for by the parent or parents regardless of whether the child is related legally or by consanguinity.
2. As used in this subsection, the term “egregious conduct” means abuse, abandonment, neglect, or any other conduct that is deplorable, flagrant, or outrageous by a normal standard of conduct. Egregious conduct may include an act or omission that occurred only once but was of such intensity, magnitude, or severity as to endanger the life of the child.

(g) The parent or parents have subjected the child or another child to aggravated child abuse as defined in s. 827.03, sexual battery or sexual abuse as defined in s. 39.01, or chronic abuse.

(h) The parent or parents have committed the murder, manslaughter, aiding or abetting the murder, or conspiracy or solicitation to murder the other parent or another child, or a felony battery that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child.

(i) The parental rights of the parent to a sibling of the child have been terminated involuntarily.

(j) The parent or parents have a history of extensive, abusive, and chronic use of alcohol or a controlled substance which renders them incapable of caring for the child, and have refused or failed to complete available treatment for such use during the 3-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition for termination of parental rights.

(k) A test administered at birth that indicated that the child’s blood, urine, or meconium contained any amount of alcohol or a controlled substance or metabolites of such substances, the presence of which was not the result of medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant, and the biological mother of the child is the biological mother of at least one other child who was adjudicated dependent after a finding of harm to the child’s health or welfare due to exposure to a controlled substance or alcohol as defined in s. 39.01, after which the biological mother had the opportunity to participate in substance abuse treatment.

(l) On three or more occasions the child or another child of the parent or parents has been placed in out-of-home care pursuant to this chapter, and the conditions that led to the child’s out-of-home placement were caused by the parent or parents.

1(m) The court determines by clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived as a result of an act of sexual battery made unlawful pursuant to s. 794.011, or pursuant to a similar law of another state, territory, possession, or Native American tribe where the offense occurred. It is presumed that termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child if the child was conceived as a result of the unlawful sexual battery. A petition for termination of parental rights under this paragraph may be filed at any time. The court must accept a guilty plea or conviction of unlawful sexual battery pursuant to s. 794.011 as conclusive proof that the child was conceived by a violation of criminal law as set forth in this subsection.

1(2) Reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify families are not required if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that any of the events described in paragraphs (1)(b)-(d) or paragraphs (1)(f)-(m) have occurred.

(3) If a petition for termination of parental rights is filed under subsection (1), a separate petition for dependency need not be filed and the department need not offer the parents a case plan having a goal of reunification, but may instead file with the court a case plan having a goal of termination of parental rights to allow continuation of services until the termination is granted or until further orders of the court are issued.

(4) If an expedited termination of parental rights petition is filed, reasonable efforts shall be made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan, and to complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child.

History.—s. 9, ch. 87-289; s. 16, ch. 90-306; s. 4, ch. 90-309; s. 7, ch. 92-158; s. 35, ch. 94-164; s. 1, ch. 97-226; s. 12, ch. 97-276; s. 88, ch. 98-403; s. 2, ch. 98-417; s. 45, ch. 99-193; s. 35, ch. 2000-139; s. 3, ch. 2001-3; s. 12, ch. 2004-371; s. 25, ch. 2006-86; s. 16, ch. 2008-245; s. 2, ch. 2009-21; s. 15, ch. 2012-178; s. 1, ch. 2013-132.
1Note.—Section 3, ch. 2013-132, provides that “[t]his act shall take effect July 1, 2013, and applies to all unlawful acts of sexual battery occurring before, on, or after that date.”
Note.—Former s. 39.464.

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