---
title: "Termination of Parental Rights"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/termination-of-parental-rights
---

# Termination of Parental Rights

Termination of parental rights (TPR) is the legal proceeding that permanently severs the legal relationship between a parent and child, extinguishing all rights and obligations including custody, visitation, and the duty of support. Because parental rights are recognized as a fundamental liberty interest under the Due Process Clause, involuntary termination requires clear and convincing evidence of statutory grounds such as abandonment, severe abuse or neglect, mental illness rendering the parent incapable of parenting, or failure to remedy conditions after reasonable reunification efforts. TPR is often a prerequisite to adoption, as it frees the child to be placed with adoptive parents. Courts view termination as the family law equivalent of the civil death penalty for parents, and accordingly apply heightened procedural protections.

## Related Terms

- adoption
- best-interest-of-the-child
- guardian-ad-litem
- child-custody

## Related Cases

- troxel-v-granville

## Example

After the state proved by clear and convincing evidence that the mother had abandoned the child for over two years and failed to comply with her court-ordered reunification plan, the court granted the petition for involuntary termination of her parental rights.

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Source: [Termination of Parental Rights — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/termination-of-parental-rights)