Where to submit an application for deprivation of parental rights?

Who can be deprived of parental rights and why?

According to the law, rights can be deprived of either of the parents or both at once. This requires the grounds that are specified in Article 69 of the Family Code.

Rights can be deprived if the parent:

• evades his responsibilities - does not engage in upbringing, education or does not pay child support;
• does not pick up the child from the maternity hospital or other medical facility;
• abuses his rights, for example, prohibits an operation that the child needs for health reasons;
• cruelly treats a child: beats, mentally tortures or violates sexual integrity;
• chronic drug addict or alcoholic;
• committed a crime against a child or other family member.

These are formal reasons. Sometimes it seems that there is nothing wrong with alimony debt. But then it turns out that the parent creates inconvenience in one situation or another, and then he is deprived of his rights. This will allow:

Get freedom of movement. Previously, a mother and child could not travel abroad without the father’s permission. In 2019, the law changed and you can leave if the second parent has not imposed a ban on leaving.

Change the child's first and last name. For example, a mother got married a second time and wants everyone in the family to have the same last name.

Adopt a child to a new spouse. It happens that a stepmother or stepfather is ready to officially become the child’s parent, but as long as the biological father or mother is listed in the documents, this will not be possible.

Deprive the right to alimony in old age. First, parents must pay child support, and when they grow up, the father or mother can ask for money for their maintenance.

In my case, the main reason for deprivation of rights was freedom of movement: I traveled abroad with my children several times a year and each time I had to obtain notarial permission from my ex-husband. Once he promised me a power of attorney for a month, but he constantly put it off until a week before departure it turned out that he had lost his passport. I had to look for friends who, for a bribe, were able to get him new documents in three days. Of course, I paid for the passport and notary services.

In addition, the ex-husband did not pay child support. We separated in 2009, and I did not ask for money to support the children, but in 2011 I needed an official certificate stating that I did not receive alimony. And I filed a lawsuit. The court ordered the ex-husband to pay the minimum amount, but he did not do so. I didn’t demand money from him, but the alimony debt eventually became a weighty reason for the court to deprive him of his rights.

I was also afraid that the children would need to support their father in old age. The ex-husband drank often and after the divorce he drank so much that he could fall asleep on the street in the cold. It was scary that he would freeze his hands and feet, become disabled, and the children would have to take care of him.

I know that many women do not want to file for alimony out of pride and think that because of alimony, the children will be obliged to support their father in old age, but this is not so. It is better to apply for alimony immediately, even if after the divorce the former spouses maintained a normal relationship. Firstly, this is the child’s money, not the mother’s, so pride has nothing to do with it. And secondly, the father can demand money for his maintenance, even if he himself has not given any money before.

I thought that I had nothing to lose if I tried to deprive my ex-husband of parental rights, and I took the risk.

Consequences of deprivation of parental rights

If the father or mother has lost their rights in relation to the child, then they:

- are deprived of the right to raise a child, receive information about his progress at school and the procedure for providing medical care in case of illness;

- cannot allow or prohibit a minor from traveling abroad;

- lose inheritance rights in relation to their son or daughter (while the child retains his inheritance rights).

If a parent no longer has rights to a child, he is still obliged to support him financially, that is, pay monthly money for his maintenance. It is important that grandparents on the part of the parent whose rights were alienated do not lose their rights to the child: they can meet the child and take part in the process of raising him. However, in some cases the exercise of these rights must be considered separately.

Six months after the decision is made, the minor can be adopted.

Where to begin

By 2015, I had accumulated enough reasons to deprive my ex-husband of parental rights: he had not paid child support for four years, visited the children once every three months, and was often drunk. Then I decided to file a statement of claim. I downloaded the first sample I came across from the Internet, remade it for myself and showed it to a lawyer I knew. The lawyer was a family friend and agreed to take on the case and handle it to gain experience. In response, I had to pay him 5,000 rubles - despite the fact that usually the services of a lawyer on such issues cost 30,000 - 50,000 rubles. We entered into an agreement so that a friend could represent my interests in court, and we got down to business.

First, we rewrote the statement of claim. I can't show you what it looked like in the end because I only saved a draft. This draft can be used.

Here's what you need to write:

• To whom the application is sent: to such and such a court in such and such a district. You can file a claim at the defendant’s place of residence, and if it is not known where he lives, then at the last address where he was registered.
• Who is the plaintiff - first name, last name, address, telephone number.
• Who is the defendant - first name, last name, address, telephone number, if known.
• Who can assess the merits of the dispute - the guardianship authorities of the district where the child lives.
• The essence of the claims is to tell in your own words how everything happened, but without emotional statements: they lived married (or not married), have children, does not pay child support, does not communicate with children.

The application can be handwritten or typed. The following documents must be attached to it:

• copy of passport,
• copies of children's birth certificates,
• copy of TIN,
• court decision on alimony.

My lawyer and I sent the claim, along with copies of documents, to the court, and we ourselves began collecting evidence.

List of required documents for deprivation of maternal rights

1. Statement of claim. If the claim is filed by the prosecutor, the document must indicate why the citizen was unable to submit the application himself; The application is signed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s representative, who must have a document confirming his authority to file and sign the claim;
2. A copy of the representative’s power of attorney - if the claim is filed by a representative or it is the representative who will defend the interests of the plaintiff;
3. Documents proving the need to deprive the mother of parental rights;
4. Copies of the application, as well as all attachments to it, according to the number of defendants and third parties participating in the trial;
5. Receipt for payment of state duty;
6. Other documents that are necessary for consideration of this case.

It is better to entrust the preparation of a package of documents to our professional lawyer working in the field of family law.

Three court hearings and interrogation of guardianship authorities

To deprive parental rights, my words that the father is not involved in raising children are not enough; they need to be supported by documents. Here's what I collected:

• a certificate from the school stating that I was the only one involved in the education of the children: I dropped them off and picked them up from school, communicated with teachers and went to meetings;
• certificate from the clinic: the doctor confirmed that the children are only with me during examinations;
• certificate from the executive service: they usually provide a certificate of alimony debt for the last six months, but we asked for a calculation of the total debt.

I didn’t go to court, a lawyer did that. This is more convenient, because the meeting may be postponed or you will have to wait several hours for it to start. The ex-husband was also not in court: it turned out that just at that time he checked out of the apartment, but did not register in the new one, and formally letters from the court did not reach him. Although mutual friends told me that he knew about the lawsuit.

Despite the fact that the defendant did not come to court, the deprivation procedure took place. The first meeting lasted about five minutes: representatives of the guardianship did not show up.

On the second, the children were sent for a psychological examination. It is prescribed to children over five years of age to find out how attached they are to the other parent. My daughters were with the psychologist for about half an hour, drawing and answering questions. The examination showed that the eldest daughter is not attached to her father, and the youngest misses him.

Then I was called to the city administration for a commission with the guardianship authorities. There was a large round table with about ten people participating. For some reason they were afraid that I came with a lawyer and asked him to leave, but I did not agree - it was calmer with a lawyer.

The commission asked why I wanted to deprive my father of his rights. I answered as it was written in the statement: he does not communicate with children, does not pay child support - I had evidence of all this. I saw that the guardianship didn’t really trust me, but I couldn’t do anything about it. At some point, I burst into tears and expressed everything as it is: that my ex drinks, lies around drunk on the street, periodically tries to break down the door to our apartment, and then sleeps in the entrance. I told him how afraid I was that his legs would be amputated, and my children would have to support him in his old age. That all this is already sick of me, and I can’t even call the police when he comes, because according to the documents he is the father and has the right to see the children.

My emotional speech touched the members of the commission, but they asked for confirmation: a certificate from the drug dispensary that my husband is an alcoholic, or from the police that they picked him up drunk from the street.

I could not collect such papers: the former was not registered with the drug dispensary, the police issue certificates only by court decision. Then I turned to the neighbors. They wrote in any form that they had repeatedly seen my ex-husband drunk in the entrance and that sometimes he sleeps under a tree.

I couldn’t go to the next meeting of the commission because of work; the lawyer was there alone. He presented testimony from neighbors, certificates from school and clinic, and the commission decided that I had enough grounds to deprive my father of parental rights.

At the third court hearing, the lawyer brought the decision of the guardianship authorities and fifteen minutes later received a decision that my ex-husband was deprived of parental rights. The whole process took four months.

If the father is against

I was lucky: my ex-husband never came to a single meeting. This is good, because deprivation of rights is a last resort, and the court usually tries to avoid it. It is enough for the father to say, “I was wrong, but I want to improve,” and he will not be deprived of his rights. He may be limited in his rights for six months, given a probationary period, and then he needs to submit a new application. At this time, the father cannot, for example, see the child without the mother’s permission and prohibit travel abroad.

This is usually what happens: the father comes to court, promises that he will reform and take care of the children, and even pays a hundred rubles in alimony for some time. Some use deprivation of rights as an educational measure: the parent may get scared and start taking care of the child.

If a father abuses a child and there is evidence of this, he may not be given probation. And if the father is in prison and is not convicted of a crime against the child, then at this time he cannot be deprived of parental rights, because he does not have the opportunity to educate.

Such proceedings are always emotionally difficult. But I think I did everything right. The child support debt is still accumulating, the father still does not communicate with the children, but my daughters and I can travel freely. And recently we moved to live in another country, and I did not need to ask permission for this.

Happinnes exists

Happiness can be different, sometimes it is a delicious dinner in a warm company, and sometimes it is your own apartment, to which it is pleasant to invite guests.
If you want one, come to the Airplane. Look at this happiness

Legal consequences for parents of their children deprived of parental rights

Consequences for children:

• A child of a citizen deprived of parental rights may be adopted. However, this can happen no earlier than six months from the date the court decision enters into legal force.
• Children of citizens deprived of parental rights retain the opportunity to dispose of the property in which they live.
• The child retains rights to the inheritance.
• If the court recognizes the impossibility of further cohabitation, the citizen deprived of parental rights may be evicted without providing him with another living space.

For parents:

• Citizens deprived of parental rights are still required to support their children. However, at the same time, they lose the opportunity to raise them, protect the interests of the child, receive an inheritance, and so on. Those deprived of parental rights lose the benefits associated with having a child.
• If the court determines that the child cannot live in a family, he is transferred to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities for upbringing. Usually the parent who has not had their rights infringed stays with the children.