Deprivation of parental rights

Family lawyer (Kyiv) is very often faced with the issue of deprivation of parental rights. Legal assistance and legal advice may be provided in any way: by phone, by e-mail, via the “Ask a lawyer” section of the official website, by consulting in the lawyer’s office personally.

How to deprive parental rights: advice of a lawyer in Kyiv

I explain to all of my potential clients that one can deal with the issue of deprivation of parental rights only if there are corresponding reasons.

According to part 1 of article 164 of the Family Code of Ukraine (reasons for deprivation of parental rights) the mother or the father can be deprived of parental rights by the court if she or he:

1. Have not taken a child from a maternity hospital or other health care facility without a good reason and have not shown parental custody of the child for six months;
2. They evade their responsibility to raise the child;
3. Treat the child abusively;
4. They are chronic alcoholics or drug addicts;
5. Use any kind of exploitation of the child, force the child into begging and vagrancy;
6. Convicted of committing an intentional criminal offense against a child.

Usually parents are deprived of parental rights under paragraph 2 of part 1 of Article 164 of the Family Code for evasion of their duties to bring up a child.

According to paragraph 16 of Resolution No. 3 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine “On Practice of Application by the Courts of the Legislation in Consideration of Cases on Adoption and on Deprivation or Renewal of Parental Rights” dated 30 March 2007, the parents evade their obligations, if they:

1. Do not care about the physical and spiritual development of the child, his/her education, preparation for independent life, in particular: do not provide the necessary nutrition, medical care, treatment of the child, which negatively affects his/her physical development as a component of upbringing;
2. Do not communicate with the child to the amount necessary for his or her normal self-awareness;
3. Do not give the child access to cultural and other spiritual values;
4. Do not contribute to his/her assimilation of universally recognized norms of morality;
5. Do not show interest in his/her inner world;
6. Do not create conditions for education.

These factors, both separately and in combination, can be regarded as evasion from bringing up the child only if the parents behave culpably, deliberately neglecting their responsibilities.

Consequently, if the lawyer is convinced that one of the reasons for deprivation of parental rights exists, the procedure for deprivation of parental rights in general terms is as follows:

• preparation (collection of written evidence), drawing up (preparation of a package of documents) and filing with the court a statement of claim for termination of parental rights with the relevant materials in the appendices,
• opening of proceedings on the case,
• involvement in the case as a third party of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, represented by an appropriate legal entity (part 4 of article 19 of the Family Code),
• the guardianship and trusteeship agency holds a meeting of the commission for the protection of the rights of the child at its location and submits a written opinion to the court regarding the resolution of the dispute (part 5 of article 19 of the Family Code).

Courts usually decide in accordance with a written opinion of the guardianship authority, which indicates whether it is appropriate (not appropriate) to deprive the defendant of parental rights with respect to the child.

• the court proceeding continues, based on the results of which the court makes a decision on the merits.

According to part 1 of Article 166 of the Family Code of Ukraine (legal consequences of deprivation of parental rights), a person deprived of parental rights:

1. Loses personal non-property rights in relation to the child and is released from the duties of upbringing of the child;
2. Ceases to be a legal representative of the child;
3. Loses rights to benefits and state assistance provided to families with children;
4. Cannot be an adoptive parent, guardian, or custodian;
5. Cannot obtain in the future the property rights associated with paternity, which he/she would have if he/she were incapacitated (right to maintenance from the child, right to a pension and survivor’s compensation, right to inheritance);
6. Loses other rights based on relationship to the child.

A person deprived of parental rights is not relieved of the obligation to support the child.

Can parents be deprived of their parental rights for non-payment of child support?

Non-payment of alimony, according to Article 164 of the Family Code, is not the basis (a separate reason) for deprivation of parental rights, but this circumstance will be considered in a complex with other circumstances and taken into account when making a decision by the guardianship authority and the court.

Non-payment of alimony may be:

• the basis for the recovery of a penalty (fine) in the amount of one percent of the amount of unpaid maintenance for each day of delay (part 1 of Article 196 of the Family Code of Ukraine),
• the basis for bringing to criminal liability for evasion of alimony (Article 164 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).