Q: How do I draw up a parental rights petition?
I am not married to the father of the child, but he has agreed to terminate his parental rights. How do i draw up the petition for him to voluntarily give up his parental rights?
A: Rather than try to do this yourself, I would encourage you to hire an attorney to draft all of the paperwork for you. A petition to terminate parental rights will need to be filed in juvenile court, which has to be served on the father so that he has an opportunity to contest it. If he has agreed to the parental rights termination, then he can sign a consent to the termination. The case will be scheduled for a hearing, at which the judge will determine whether there are sufficient grounds for a parental rights termination. If you try to do this yourself, it would be easy to make a mistake that could create problems later. However, if this is really going to be uncontested by the father, an attorney should be able to handle it for you at a reasonable price. If we can be of assistance, please let us know.
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