In South Carolina there are 11 different grounds for terminating the parental rights of a biological or legal parent. The grounds for a TPR (the nickname for a court action to terminate a parent’s parental rights to a child) are set by statute. Before the Family Court can terminate a parent’s rights to their child, the court must find by “clear and convincing evidence” that at least one of the statutory grounds exists.
The acronym TPR stands for “termination of parental rights.” Terminating the parental rights of the biological and legal parents of a child is the first step in the adoption process. This step is essential to the adoption process because the legal relationship between the child and its biological and legal parents must be ended before the new legal parent-child relationship can be formed between the child and the adoptive parents.
Sometimes when we need to do an adoption, a birth parent is not located in the state of South Carolina. If the parent is living outside of South Carolina, but is willing to voluntarily relinquish their parental rights and consent to an adoption, we can still obtain a valid Consent and Relinquishment from them. Continue reading »
When professionals who work around adoptions talk about a Consent and Relinquishment they are talking about a document or documents which a birth parent signs to voluntarily relinquish his or her parental rights to a child and to consent to that child being adopted. Continue reading »