If you’ve received notice that someone is seeking to terminate your parental rights, or if DCS has begun a severance case against you, you still have legal options. Termination of parental rights is not automatic, and courts must follow strict rules to ensure your rights are protected.
Step 1: Understand Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Be served with written notice
- Have an attorney represent you
- Participate in all hearings
- Present evidence and call witnesses
- Appeal the court’s decision if your rights are terminated
Tip: If you cannot afford a lawyer, the court must appoint one for you in termination proceedings.
Step 2: Raise Legal Defenses
The state or petitioner must prove at least one statutory ground for termination by clear and convincing evidence, and show that termination is in the child’s best interests.
Common legal defenses include:
- Reunification progress: You’ve completed services or significantly improved your circumstances.
- Insufficient evidence: The petitioner cannot prove abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
- Procedural violations: DCS or the court did not follow proper notice or hearing timelines.
- Lack of best-interest evidence: Termination is not actually beneficial to the child.
Step 3: Consider Appealing
If your parental rights are terminated, you have a limited window to appeal—usually 15 days from the court’s ruling. An appeal reviews whether the judge made a legal error, not whether you’re a good parent.
Our team at Modern Law has helped parents defend against termination, protect their rights, and reunify with their children. If you’re facing a TPR case, it’s not too late to fight back.
