How Do I File for Termination of Parental Rights in Texas?

Adoption is a life-changing journey. Every adoption involves the legal transfer of parental rights from you to the adoptive family. Terminating your parental rights in Texas must be done before the adoption can be completed. Adoption laws vary by state, so that’s why working with an adoption attorney and our agency for this process is your best bet.

Terminating your parental rights can be done in two ways: voluntarily and involuntarily. To help you out, we’ll walk you through the process for the termination of parental rights in Texas.

How Do I File for Termination of Parental Rights in Texas?

You file for the termination of parental rights in Texas when you choose adoption. Adoption is a deeply personal decision. But you need to be sure about your decision because it’s permanent once you terminate your rights and sign your consent.

The revocation period, or the window to withdraw your consent to the adoption, is 10 days in Texas.

The adoption process can be broken down into these five general steps:

Step 1: Contact our agency.
Step 2: Create an adoption plan with your adoption specialist.
Step 3: Find the perfect adoptive family for your baby.
Step 4: Terminate your parental rights.
Step 5: Begin life as a birth parent.

Fill out our online contact form to get more free information now about how to file for termination of parental rights in Texas.

What Is the Voluntary Termination of Parental Rights in Texas?

The voluntary termination of parental rights can also be called consent for adoption. This usually applies to domestic adoption. As a prospective birth mother, you generally have the right of consent once you choose adoption.

When you choose adoption for your baby, you are voluntarily terminating your parental rights in Texas.

The voluntary termination of parental rights in Texas is straightforward for you. But the process changes when it comes to the baby’s father.

You generally have the right of consent as a prospective birth mother. But the rights of prospective birth fathers are handled on a case-by-case basis. No two adoptions are exactly alike.

Consent from the birth father is needed if:

You are married and the baby is born during the marriage.
You are married and the baby is born before the 301st day after the date the marriage ended.
You married before the baby’s birth, even if the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid and the baby is born during the invalid marriage, or before the 301st day after the date the marriage is terminated.
You were married after the birth of the baby and the birth father voluntarily asserted his paternity of your baby.
The birth father’s paternity claim is in a record filed with the Vital Statistics Unit.
The birth father is named as the baby’s father on the child’s birth certificate.
The birth father promised in writing to support the baby.
During the first two years of the baby’s life, the birth father lived in the same household as the baby, and he told others that the baby was his own.

What Is the Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights in Texas?

Ideally, the birth father is supportive of you during the adoption process. But there are unsupportive, uninvolved or uninterested birth fathers out there.

If the birth father is your spouse, then they must voluntarily terminate their parental rights in Texas, too. If the birth father is not your spouse, then they may need to establish paternity before they can legally consent to or contest an adoption.

Although the process of establishing paternity differs by state, Texas is one of 33 states with a putative father registry. A putative father registry acknowledges paternity and protects parental rights for birth fathers.

A prospective birth father can lose his parental rights if a court determines that they:

Abandoned your baby
Knowingly endangered the physical or emotional well-being of your baby
Had his parental rights terminated with another baby
Failed to comply with a case plan
And more

Fill out our online contact form to get more free information now about the termination of parental rights in Texas.

How Long Does Termination of Parental Rights Take in Texas?

There is no timetable for the termination of parental rights in Texas. But in order for your baby to be placed with an adoptive family, both parents’ parental rights must be terminated. This is the only way to complete a legal adoption.

If the birth father does not consent to adoption, then a judge must terminate his rights in Texas.

The future of your baby is ultimately your decision. Although a birth father cannot stop adoption, it does make the process more difficult.

That’s why we recommend working with an adoption attorney for the ins and outs of the termination of parental rights in Texas. As part of our comprehensive services, we’ll provide you with an adoption attorney to make sure you’re well prepared for the ins and outs of adoption.

Your adoption attorney won’t have to give an unknown, unsupportive or uninterested birth father a notice of your adoption decision if:

He doesn’t register with the putative father registry.
He hasn’t provided financial support during the pregnancy.
He hasn’t legally established paternity to the baby.
All efforts to find him are unsuccessful.

Contact us online to get more free information now about how long the termination of parental rights takes in Texas. We are here to help whenever you need us.

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