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Can we have biological mother parental rights taken and /or joint legal custody and be award sole custody
Anonymous3 views2 answers
My husband has physical custody of his daughter due to her being sexually and physically abused in the mothers care.But husband and biological mother have joint legal custody. Child is in therapy due to trauma sustained while living with mother and shared things with therapist, which therapist reported. CPS has done an investigation and taken the case to the police who are now doing a criminal investigation on mother and other person involved. Biological Mother visitation has current ceased temporary. Child is revealing more and more in therapy. How can we keep the child safe and stop permanent visitation and access to the child with biological child when the judge is trying to force us to co parent with biological mother after evidence shows child is not safe with biological mother.
Only the state can file to terminate a parent's parental rights. Your husband can file for a modification and seek sole custody, it would be his burden to prove that since the last court order a material change of circumstance has occurred that warrants the current custody arrangement to be modified.
I am so sorry to hear about the trauma your step-daughter has experienced. No child should be hurt by anyone, especially by a parent.
Mr. Koslow is correct that only the State can file to Terminate a Parent's Right (TPR) and that is done after you file criminal charges and/or seek assistance through Child Protective Services (CPS). Still, please understand that TPR is a very onerous sanction and the Court will always protect the child by restricting access between the child and the parent in the custody or CPS case but a TPR is a PERMANENT sanction and therefore the Court will not move quickly on this point.
Still, you can petition the Family Court for a Modification of Visitation to ask the Court to suspend all face-to-face access or all communication between mom and child. I could not know if this is in the child's best interests but the child's therapist will have a good [but non-legal] opinion on this. The Court may prohibit all contact except in a therapeutic environment (counseling). It's best to discuss this with an experienced custody lawyer in your area.
