Can Parental Rights be Terminated for Skipping Parenting Time?

 Posted on May 16, 2025 in Family Law

Perhaps your ex has been given parenting time in the form of one weeknight per week and every other weekend. Yet, virtually every time it is his time to spend time with your two young children, he simply does not show up. In some cases, he may offer an excuse after the fact, but he appears to have zero interest in seeing his children to the point where you do not even expect him to show up anymore.

You move on with your life and meet a man whom you marry. He treats your children as his own, and you are now wondering whether you can have your ex-spouse’s parental rights terminated, allowing your husband to adopt the children. You may be surprised to find that the court is not as amenable to  terminating parental rights as you expected.  

While the ex in this case could agree to voluntarily have his parental rights terminated, allowing the new husband to adopt the children, Illinois has very specific grounds for the involuntary termination of parental rights. A family law attorney can help you explore your options and have your questions regarding the termination of parental rights answered.

Terminating Parental Rights When There Is a Person Willing to Step into the Parental Role

Illinois law allows a parent to petition to terminate the other parent’s rights when there is someone willing to adopt the child legally and the parent can be proven unfit. In other words, no matter how bad one parent thinks the other is, the law does not favor the termination of parental rights. Even a negligent parent – one who ignores every opportunity to see the children – is obligated to pay child support and will retain his or her parental rights except under extreme circumstances.

For the court to consider terminating a parent’s rights, there must be true unfitness involved. For a person to adopt a child through the termination of one parent’s parental rights, a petition must be brought under the Illinois Adoption Act that claims the parent is unfit unless the biological parent consents in writing to the adoption and the termination of parental rights.   

When Can a Parent’s Rights Be Terminated?

The following are among the legal grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights through the family court system:

• The parent has a criminal conviction for specific violent crimes, including aggravated assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, or first-degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted murder, or conspiracy to commit murder of a child.
• The child has been in foster care for 15 of the past 22 months.
• The child in question or another child of that child’s parent was chronically abused, tortured, or abandoned by the parent.
• Another child of the parent died because of the physical abuse by that parent.
• Although financially able to do so, the parent has continuously refused to provide the child with the basic necessities.   
• There has been no reasonable degree of responsibility, concern, or interest in the well-being of the child by the parent.
• Despite being able to do so, the parent has not visited, communicated, or had any contact with the child for at least 12 months.
• The parental rights of the parent were involuntarily terminated for another child.
• The parent has engaged in open and notorious fornication or adultery.
• The parent has exhibited habitual addiction to drugs or drunkenness for at least one year.

Contact a Kane County, IL Family Law Attorney

If you have questions about whether your ex’s disinterest in your children rises to the level of termination of parental rights, it can be beneficial to speak to a knowledgeable St. Charles, IL, family law attorney from Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC. Our lawyers are highly experienced and compassionate. MKFM Law serves family law clients at Kane County, DuPage County, and DeKalb County offices. Call 630-665-7300 to schedule your initial attorney meeting.