What are grounds for terminating parental rights?

The grounds for terminating parental rights in New York include severe issues such as abandonment, neglect, and infliction of serious harm. Abandonment refers to a parent's failure to pay support or communicate with their child over a significant period, indicating a lack of involvement or concern for the child's well-being. Neglect involves a parent failing to provide necessary care, which can jeopardize the child's health and safety. Inflicting serious harm encompasses physical abuse or severe emotional harm inflicted upon the child, which can create an unsafe living environment.

These grounds are taken very seriously by the courts, as the fundamental principle underlying parental rights is the best interest of the child. In contrast, other options such as job loss or financial instability do not directly impact a parent's ability to care for their child and generally do not warrant termination of parental rights. Disagreements on parenting styles are also not sufficient grounds since conflict in parenting approaches is typical and does not indicate harm or neglect. Similarly, a temporary absence from a child's life does not usually meet the threshold for severing parental ties unless it can be shown that such absence is harmful or indicative of abandonment.