How to terminate my ex-husband parental rights

Full question:

I'd like to know if I can have my ex-husband's parental rights forcably terminated. We have two children, under the ages 12 years old. We divorced when they were 2 and 4 years old. He moved out of state before the divorce was final, and without notice to anyone. He pays child support sparatically. He's currently somewhere around $60,000 behind in child support. He was convicted for, and served time for, a felony drug charge. He is a drug addict. He moves constantly, without ever giving any notice to me where he might be. I never know where he's living nor working. Our children still have contact with his sister and when they are at her house he'll contact them by phone, but they don't see her very often. He has not physically seen them in over a year, and if they are not at his sisters house he makes no attempt to contact them.

• Category: Paternity
• Subcategory: Parental Rights
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: National

Answer:

The law prefers for children to have two parents. Terminating one parent’s rights, without having someone else step in and take their place, isn’t favored by judges. This is based on the fear of having deadbeat parents give up their parental rights to avoid having to pay child support.

A parent’s rights can be terminated as part of a juvenile case, but that means that there is serious abuse and neglect. Also, juvenile cases are filed by the state, so it is not something you can file yourself, or hire a private lawyer to file for you.

Typically, a parent willl need someone else who is willing to adopt your kids once your ex’s rights are terminated, and that someone else would probably have to be a current spouse. Most judgesare unlikely to make someone an adoptive parent if that person wasn’t willing to marry the children’s biological parent.

In order to have a new spouse adopt the children, a petition for adoption must be field. The Adoption Act refers to multiple “petitioners,” so it implies that two people have to file the adoption case together.

If the other parent signs a proper consent to the adoption, it is likely a judge will sign a judgment terminating that person’s parental rights, and making the step-parent the new adoptive parent.

If the other parent does not consent to the adoption, the people petitioning for the adoption must prove that the non-consenting parent is "unfit." Under Illinois law, a court will decide that a parent is unfit if that parent has abandoned their child, failed to show a reasonable degree of interest, concern or responsibility in their child's welfare, deserted or neglected their child or treated their child with extreme or repeated cruelty.

Adoption cases are complex and  terminating someone’s parental rights isn’t an easy matter. Therefore, as a practical matter, an adoption case is not something you should attempt without a lawyer.