Features of restoring parental rights - what do you need to know?

Responsibility for violation of children's rights

To apply deprivation of rights, the life and health of the minor must be in danger as a result of the guilty actions of the parent. The law defines a limited list of grounds for considering the issue of deprivation of rights:

• alcohol or drug addiction;
• committing a crime against the life and health of a child, spouse or other relatives;
• child abuse;
• abuse of the rights of mother and father;
• refusal to pick up from a hospital or social institution;
• evasion of duties.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

The initiator of the process may be the prosecutor's office, the child protection agency, a social organization or the second parent. Each issue is considered individually. The plaintiff must prove that the parent’s actions are aimed at violating the children’s rights and threaten his life.

Deprivation of rights applies exclusively to minors. The measure is of an indefinite nature. The main consequence of deprivation is the removal of the child from the family.

If the reasons that led to the deprivation of rights are eliminated, it is possible to return the child. Restoration of maternal and paternal rights is the cancellation of a court decision on deprivation of rights in relation to a minor. The possibility of restoration is provided only in court.

Important! Maternal and paternal rights in relation to a child can be restored until the child reaches adulthood.

When rights cannot be restored

In some cases, it is impossible to satisfy a claim for restoration of parental rights. However, the court must have compelling reasons for this.

Grounds for refusal include:

• disagreement of a minor over 10 years of age to live with his parents;
• the child has already been adopted and this decision has not been canceled;
• the plaintiff does not pay child support;
• presence of facts of physical or sexual violence against a minor in the past;
• acquisition of full civil capacity from the age of 16 (emancipation);
• the child reaches the age of 18.

If the claim is denied, the citizen cannot take part in raising the child or live with him.

How to regain parental rights?

In order to regain parental rights after deprivation, you must:

• change your lifestyle;
• eliminate the causes of deprivation;
• regularly pay alimony;
• maintain regular contact with the minor;
• submit a statement of claim to the court.

Thus, many parents who have been deprived of their rights have the opportunity to recover. The following situations are exceptions:

• minor against return to parent;
• the child is adopted.

If at the time of applying to the court the minor lives in a foster family (under guardianship, guardianship, or in a foster family), the issue of reinstatement will be decided based on the children’s interests.

The initiator of the lawsuit may be:

• a parent against whom a measure of deprivation of rights was applied;
• guardianship department;
• orphanage (in relation to a pupil of the organization).

A measure similar to deprivation of rights is considered to be restriction of the rights of a parent. The main difference between the measures is the validity period. The deprivation is valid indefinitely, and the restriction is valid for 6 months.

Within the specified period, the parent must file an application with the court. In such a situation, it is necessary to cancel the restriction of parental rights. The procedure is generally similar to reinstatement of rights.

Procedure for the parent

Algorithm for restoration of parental rights after deprivation:

1. Collection of documentation.
2. Preparation of a statement of claim.
3. Sending documents to court.
4. Trial.
5. Obtaining a court decision.
6. Return of the child.

List of documentation for the court

To initiate the process, you will need to collect a certain list of documents:

• parent's civil passport;
• child's birth certificate;
• certificate from the place of employment;
• extract from the house register;
• characteristics from neighbors, from the district police officer, from the employer;
• income certificate;
• medical report from a psychiatrist and narcologist;
• act of inspection of the plaintiff’s living conditions.

The following citizens can be brought in as witnesses:

• employer;
• neighbors;
• district police officer;
• employees of an institution for orphans (if the child is a pupil of the organization);
• other citizens.

Statement of claim

The statement of claim for restoration of parental rights must contain the following information:

• name of the judicial authority indicating the address;
• plaintiff's details;
• information about the defendant (the person or organization who has the child);
• municipal guardianship department;
• district prosecutor's office;
• title of the application;
• information about family ties with the child;
• reasons for deprivation of rights;
• court decision on deprivation (details);
• changes in the parent's life;
• information about communication with a minor;
• data on alimony payments;
• reference to law;
• claim;
• a list of attached documents;
• date and signature.

Sample statement of claim for restoration of parental rights

One parent or both can act as a plaintiff. The defendant is:

• organization for orphans (if the child is a pupil of the institution);
• guardian/trustee (if the minor is a ward);
• foster family (if the child is placed in foster care);
• municipal guardianship department (if the minor is in a shelter, secondary or higher education institution);
• second parent (if the child is in the blood family).

Important! The adoptive parent cannot be a defendant in the process of restoring rights. When the court decision on adoption comes into force, the parent loses the right to return the child.

The requirements must be specified:

• restoration of maternal or paternal rights;
• return of the child from the persons holding him.

Sending documents to court

You can draw up a statement of claim yourself. But in the absence of experience, you can make mistakes that will lead to the return of the claim.

The following authorities can provide assistance in collecting documents for the restoration of rights:

• municipal guardianship department;
• comprehensive social service center;
• institution for orphans;
• prosecutor's office;
• support center for foster families.

The application and documents must be printed in a number of copies equal to the number of participants in the process. Copies of documents must be signed, with your name and the inscription: “Copy.”

The documents are sent to the court at the defendant’s place of residence. If the claim is sent to an organization, then the documents must be submitted at the place of registration of the legal address of the organization.

Trial

The issue of reinstatement of rights is not considered in the absence of the applicant. The parent must appear in person in court. If difficulties arise, it is advisable to involve a lawyer.

Organizations for orphans can provide a lawyer free of charge. However, assistance in recovery is provided only to citizens who, by their behavior, have proven their correction and care for the child.

When participating in a court hearing, it is necessary to clearly demonstrate improvements in the applicant’s lifestyle. The plaintiff's appearance must be neat. A person cannot be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In the process, the child’s opinion is necessarily clarified. If the minor does not want to return to his birth family, the court will refuse to restore his rights. The interests of the child are protected in the process by a legal representative.

The court will consider the information provided and make a decision. Requests may be denied in the interests of the minor.

Since deprivation of the rights of the father and mother is applied in exceptional cases, they can be restored only in a number of cases. The court will refuse to return the rights to a person who has committed a crime against the sexual integrity of a child. The issue of reinstatement for citizens who committed the murder of a minor's mother or other relatives remains controversial.

In addition, payment of child support is not the basis for restoring the rights of a parent deprived of it for non-payment. Since the obligation to maintain remains even after deprivation.

Obtaining a court decision

After the court's decision is made, the applicant must wait for it to be vested with legal force. The document comes into force within 30 days.

Within 3 days , the judicial authority must send information about the restoration of the parent’s rights to the municipal registry office. If the birth of a child was registered through the MFC, then the data is sent to the MFC.

Based on the decision, a writ of execution is issued to return the child to the parents. If the person or organization in which the minor is being raised detains him, then the documents are sent to the FSSP.

If the application was submitted by the father, and the minor lived with the mother, then instead of returning the child, it is necessary to determine the place of residence or the order of communication.

Grounds for restoration of rights

As a rule, parents are deprived of their rights to a child due to such reasons as:

• failure to fulfill parental obligations provided for by law;
• immoral lifestyle;
• alcoholism;
• addiction;
• cruel treatment.

If, in the case of restriction of rights, the sanction is valid for six months, then the deprivation is carried out on an indefinite basis. In the future, the child will be able to decide for himself whether he needs to communicate with his biological parents.

In accordance with Art. 72 of the RF IC, a mother or father can restore their rights. For this there must be a reason, namely:

Changing immoral lifestyle.

For example, if a parent previously did not raise a child, suffered from alcoholism and did not participate in the lives of children, then he will be able to recover only if there is confirmation of a change in lifestyle. A certificate of absence of alcoholism or drug addiction, testimony of witnesses, etc. can be used as confirmation. However, despite the restoration of rights, the citizen will remain at risk for the rest of his life.

Ensuring normal living conditions for children

If the guardianship authorities establish that a citizen lives in a property whose characteristics do not meet the stipulated sanitary and technical standards, this is recorded in a special act. Subsequently, the executed act is attached to the case materials. To restore parental rights, it will be necessary to carry out repair work and improve living conditions for a comfortable stay for the child.

Official employment.

If the fact of material need is asserted in combination with other reasons, the parent may be deprived of rights or limited in them. To restore the rights to the child, you will need to find an official job with a stable salary. The amount of income should be in the amount necessary to ensure a normal life for the child. As confirmation, certificates of salary from work, characteristics of place of residence and employment are provided.

Thus, in order to be able to restore parental rights, it is necessary to correct the usual immoral lifestyle and completely eliminate the reason for applying such a sanction. All changes must be documented.

The court will study the presented materials and, if it considers that the parent has really changed for the better and his lifestyle does not threaten the child in any way, will decide to restore his rights. Oral evidence will not be taken into account. The exception is the testimony of disinterested witnesses.

Refusal to restore

The law does not provide for the unconditional return of a child to a parent who has expressed a desire to restore rights. The court's actions are aimed at protecting children's rights.

Refusal will be received in the following cases:

• the child is against returning to the family;
• the minor is adopted;
• the evidence presented by the parent is insufficient to satisfy the claim;
• restoration is not in the best interests of the child.

Example. The child was raised in the family of a guardian from infancy. Foster parents cannot adopt him due to his health condition. At the time of the mother's appeal to the court, the boy was 11 years old. He does not know about the presence of a blood mother and considers the adoptive family to be biological. In such a situation, the restoration of the mother’s rights will cause psychological trauma to the child.

What documents are needed

The plaintiff attaches the following documents to the claim to restore parental rights:

1. copies of the claim for all participants in the process;
2. proof of payment of state duty;
3. information about available income;
4. characteristics from the actual place of residence and work;
5. a document confirming the fact of deprivation of parental rights;
6. baby's birth certificate;
7. confirmation from a medical institution that the plaintiff is not registered at a drug treatment clinic and is not being treated for chronic alcoholism, and also does not have sexually transmitted diseases.

Returning children to the family

If the claim also included a demand for the return of the child, and the court satisfied it, then it is necessary to obtain a writ of execution from the court. After this, the document is submitted to the bailiff service for further execution.

If the second parent, guardian or other authorities voluntarily do not comply with the court decision, then the transfer of the child to the parent by court decision occurs with the participation of the guardianship and trusteeship authority.

If the person from whom it is necessary to take the child refuses, the transfer of the minor occurs with the participation of police representatives. However, the court cannot always grant a request to return the child. The court has the right to refuse to transfer a minor to a parent if it is determined that this is contrary to the interests of the child.

Adoption after restrictions and prohibitions have been introduced

After a citizen has lost such opportunities, he has the privilege to adopt a child, but to do this he must do the following:

1. eliminate the reasons for restrictions and prohibitions;
2. prepare everything necessary to regain your powers;
3. undergo a recovery procedure;
4. apply to the guardianship authority;
5. select a candidate for adoption from an orphanage;
6. obtain approval from the guardianship authorities;
7. apply to the court to obtain appropriate permission.

Subsequently, after this procedure, all that remains is to pick up the child from the orphanage, as well as carry out all registration actions with his documents and obtain a certificate.

Important. When carrying out the procedure, it is absolutely necessary to obtain the approval of the board of trustees, otherwise the adoption of the child will be denied during the court hearing.