Unfortunately, if the New Jersey family court finds you to have a history of abuse, abandonment, neglect, or cruelty, then they may have grounds to terminate your parental rights over your child. With this halt in visiting or caring for your child, you may be wondering whether your financial support obligations will pause as well. Continue reading to learn whether you are tied to a child support order after your parental rights are terminated and how an experienced New York City child support attorney at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. can help you navigate this complex situation.
Am I obligated to pay child support after my parental rights get terminated?
Your parental rights may have been involuntarily taken from you by the New Jersey family court. Or, you may have voluntarily given them up if, say, your former spouse’s new partner is willing to adopt your child. Whatever your specific case may be, you may not be completely off the hook with your child support obligations.
Mainly, this is because there is a difference between parental rights and parental duties. For one, parental rights have to do with your right to physically access your child and have a say in their important life decisions (i.e., child custody). On the other hand, parental duties relate to the natural obligations that come with parenthood (i.e., child support). This means that just because your parental rights are terminated does not necessarily mean that your parental duties are.
So, more likely than not, you may be required to pay the remaining child support payments that were ordered by the court before it officially terminated your parental rights. It is also worth mentioning that you cannot petition to relinquish your parental rights simply because you no longer want to make these payments.
In what ways can I win back my parental rights?
Understandably so, you may want to continue to financially support your child. What’s more, you may want to regain access to your child altogether. Rest assured, there may be ways in which you can win back your parental rights if they were involuntarily stripped from you.
Overall, it is in your best interest to correct the circumstances that led to the removal of your parental rights in the first place. You should also prove to the court that you are now financially and physically capable of taking on this responsibility once more, regardless of whether the Department of Children and Families got you to this point or not.
In the end, the first step you must take to win back your parental rights is to retain the services of one of the skilled New York City family law attorneys. So call us at Zimmet Law Group, P.C. today.
