No

One of the questions that our team most commonly hear is, “What's the difference between parental rights and custody?” Here are some quick definitions that may help clarify the difference between parental rights and custody:

• Parental rights: The right to seek legal and/or physical custody of your child and make decisions regarding your child subject to any court orders.
• Legal custody: The right to make health care, religious and education decisions regarding your child.
• Physical custody: The right to have your child live with you and the ability to make day-to-day decisions while your child is in your physical care.

No. There is a lot of confusion regarding permanent legal custody vs. adoption. Similarly, clients often ask about the difference between sole custody and termination of parental rights.

The difference has to do with the legal parental rights. A guardian or family member may permanently take care of a child in their home, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are the legal parent of that child. To become a permanent parent to that child (in a very important legal sense), that person would need to legally adopt that child.

Permanent custody or sole custody and parental rights termination is not the same thing. Even if one parent is granted full/permanent/sole custody of a child, the other parent still has legal parental rights.

Even if you don’t have custody of your biological child, you liCustody is not the same thing as parental rights. For example, when a couple divorces and custody is determined, both parents will still retain their legal parental rights to the child, even if one parent does not have custody.

Courts do not terminate parental rights when making custody and visitation decisions. A termination of parental rights is a separate action where the parent’s constitutional rights are terminated and they no longer have the right to ask to see the child anymore. The legal termination of those rights by the court is a permanent action. In Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia, this only happens in Department of Social Services cases and in final adoption hearings.

Only when the parental rights have been terminated in court can a child become eligible for adoption.

No. If someone’s parental rights are voluntarily or involuntarily terminated, and those rights are permanently and legally granted to a new parent — that is adoption.

Although some parents facing custody loss will worry, “Are parental rights revoked in custody cases,” the answer is: No. Parental rights are not addressed in custody hearings.

Most of the time, biological parents retain their legal rights even if they lose custody. Termination of parental rights usually only happens if the Department of Social Services gets involved or through adoption.

In some situations, yes. But, this is something you’ll need to consult with your attorney about.

Typically, no. In custody cases, the parent can't voluntarily terminate their parental rights. However, if you no longer wish to have legal or physical custody of your child, and you don't want to be involved in any decision-making regarding your child, you can communicate this to the court.