When Could a Parent Lose His or Her Parental Rights

Not all Michigan parents are fit to raise children. While courts largely view it to be in the best interest of children to have a mother and father who both spend time as their caregivers, there are circumstances when a parent has various problems that reduce his or her capacity to be a good parent. When these problems are so severe that they endanger the child's welfare, a Michigan court could choose to deny the parent his or her parental rights.

Here are several common reasons why parental rights are denied:

• Being chronically or severely abusive to the child.
• Being sexually abusive to the child.
• Psychologically abusing or torturing the child.
• Damaging a child emotionally in a severe way.
• Neglecting to provide the child with food, shelter and other needs.
• Abandoning the child as a result of extreme disinterest.
• When the parent has a long-term and serious mental illness.
• When the parent suffers from drug or alcohol abuse.
• Having a felony-level conviction relating to a violent crime against a family member.
• If the parent has been imprisoned for long enough that it prevents the parent from being able to care for the child.
• The child is at risk in any way if he or she returns to the home of the parent.
• The parent has induced the child to carry out crimes.
• The newly born child has an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
• The parent has given birth to more than two infants affected by drugs.

When taken on a case-by-case basis, there could be an infinite number of reasons why a parent could lose his or her parental rights. If your rights are in danger, or if you want to take away the parental rights of the other parent of your child, you may want to learn more about Michigan family law.