Parental Rights

One of the fundamental areas of family law relates to parental rights. This area of family law covers a wide range of topics all dealing with the relationship between a parent and child as well as the rights of a parent in regards to their child. Having children is a great responsibility and parents will be responsible for the well being of their children at least until they reach the age of 18. Most of the process of raising a child is pretty straightforward. However, there are more complicated situations that can arise in which a parent will need to consult with a family law attorney to learn their rights and responsibilities as dictated by law.

Definition of a Parent

The first step in understand family law relating to parental rights is to know the true definition of a parent. Determining who a child’s legal father is should be a matter that is broached with a family law lawyer as this portion of the law is open to interpretation in some circumstances.

“Parental rights” can cover a wide variety of areas. Some of these things may require a consultation with a family law attorney while others are simply common sense. For instance, a parent has the right to educate and care for their children. These are things that most parents already are aware of and put into practice. However, if a couple is going through a separation or divorce, they may wonder which of the parents really has more right to the children.

What Parental Right Are

The right of a parent to have possession of a child is greater than the right of any other person to have that child. This also comes into play during separation or divorce proceedings. In many cases, a “family law attorney” will include in the court orders that a parent has the first right of refusal when the parent in possession of the child is unable to care for the child for a specified period of time. For instance, this means that if the parent who currently has the children needs to work for a few hours on their Saturday, they will need to check with the other parent before asking someone else to watch the children.

Get Help From a Family Law Attorney

In some cases, a woman will employ the use of a family law attorney to assist in terminating the parental rights of a child’s father. This can be a long and complicated process and will only be granted in certain circumstances. It is understood that you cannot terminate a father’s parental rights simply because you do not want the father to be in the child’s life or your own. You will need to prove one of several different things for an order such as this to be approved such as child endangerment or remarriage.

Parental rights can also refer to the areas of family law that protect children with special needs. There are laws in place that a family law attorney can best explain that make sure that children with special needs are not lost in the system. These laws spell out the services that a parent can expect their child to receive. If your child is not receiving the services that they require, a family law attorney will be able to help you to exercise your parental rights and get your child the help that he or she needs.

Using a family law attorney to better understand what is involved with parental rights can be very important. If you try to go through the legal system on your own, you may not receive the results that you wanted or deserve. Having a knowledgeable family law attorney in your corner will ensure that you receive the attention that you need and deserve and that the results are the best possible.