Despite going through a divorce, you may have done a good job keeping a close relationship with your child. However, this may be until your whole world gets turned upside down, so to speak, and you get convicted of a crime and subsequently sentenced to prison time. If this is your current predicament, please follow along to find out whether you get to keep your parental rights if you get incarcerated and how a proficient Morristown child custody lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC, can help you maintain access to your child even during these seemingly impossible circumstances.
Do I get to keep my parental rights if I get incarcerated?
First of all, you must understand that child custody is different than parental rights. And so, you may, of course, lose physical custody of your child when you are sent away to prison. However, you may not automatically lose your parental rights. Meaning, you may still have the legal right to contact your child with your allowed phone calls and spend time with your child during scheduled visitation hours.
This is unless your former spouse takes legal action to terminate your parental rights. In their petition, they may claim that you are essentially abandoning or neglecting your child by being incarcerated for the long term. Further, they may argue that you are no longer parentally fit enough to uphold your rights and responsibilities. In the end, though, the New Jersey family court makes these decisions on a case-by-case basis.
It is worth mentioning, though, that if you are incarcerated for a certain time, the state may get involved and file a petition to take away your parental rights. This is mostly if you were charged with a serious crime, such as murder or manslaughter. Or, if you were found guilty of committing a crime against a child, such as child sexual abuse or kidnapping, regardless of whether or not it was against your own child.
Do I get my parental rights back after returning from incarceration?
If your former spouse or the state fought to get your parental rights formally revoked during your incarceration, they may not automatically get reinstated upon your release. Rather, if you want these rights back, you may have to undergo the separate legal process of a post-judgment modification. In this case, you must demonstrate your parental fitness and how staying in your child’s life would be in their best interest.
You may prove this through evidence of your rehabilitation since being released. That is, you may have secured a stable housing situation, maintained steady employment, completed your community service hours, etc. You may also reemphasize your efforts to stay involved in your child’s life during your incarceration, such as by keeping up with your child support payments, calling them, and having them visit you.
If this blog has deeply resonated with your personal situation and concerns thus far, please reach out to a skilled Morristown family law attorney for more information. The team at Graves Andrews, LLC will be glad to represent you in your upcoming legal case.